Disaster Dominoes
by The Awesome Novice Writer
Summary: Panem... Capitol... Districts... Dark Days... Hunger Games... Repression... Starvation... Depression... Hatred... Desperation... Mockingjay... Rebellion... Defeat... Misery... You made this happen. The adults choose to wage war, but it's the kids that suffer. Our games have begun.
1. Doomed to failure

**Well, I said I'd do it, so here we are... Again.**

**Before we get started on this fic, I just have a few things to say. Old and new readers alike, welcome to the remake of 'The monster within us', wither or not this fic will be better or not I do not know, but I will complete this thing, even if it takes three years.**

**Anyway, honestly, this has been in the back of my mind for a long while now, but I've hardly done anything with it. But then I was looking back at my last SYOT, 'Shattered Souls', (an experiment that's a plethora of spelling and grammar mistakes and somewhat ****satisfying****) reading the reviews and seeing the complete marker on it, and I thought to myself, 'yes, I can finish my first SYOT', so here I am.**

**So really, this remake will be mostly the same as ****Monster****, but with minor changes that had been driving me crazy. Most of those changes probably will go unnoticed by you readers, but, hope you enjoy it neither the less. This time, there will be an interview chapter, as well as a couple of extra chapters before the games start. And the chapter before the games will be when things will be different from Monster. Until then, minor changes.**

**So for those of you still reading this, there as a couple of other things that I should say.**

**Before continuing on, you will agree to the facts that I am not perfect, this fic won't be flawless, as there will be spelling and grammar mistakes somewhere (though I will try to keep it to a minimum to the best of my abilities.) and that you can read this in a mature manner that won't involve you wanting to spill my guts. Reviews are ****appreciated****, but not required. Also, you can say whatever you want in reviews, I won't mind.**

**Now that that's over with... Read and enjoy.**

_**"The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live." -Norman Cousins**_

**Ten years ago**

**The One ****Hundredth**** and Twenty Ninth Hunger Games**

**District Ten's Druid Ray's POV**

I couldn't believe it, I just couldn't fucking believe it. After eight days in Hell, Saddy and I were the only ones left alive. Despite the odds, despite that there were twenty two other tributes that wanted us dead, in which six of them were trained killers that had dedicated their entire lives to this event, we had somehow survived against everything that had been thrown at us. It was nothing short of a miracle.

I know that I said that I'd protect Saddy and lead her to victory, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that I'd make it this far. I expected to die in the final twelve, then I expected to die in the final eight, then in the final four. I never expected that it would just be Saddy and I left in the arena.

It was a good feeling, but one mixed in with sadness as I knew what the future looked like for me.

In this moment in time I could still hear and feel my heart racing as it pumped the much needed blood into my body, feeling its warmth in various areas of my body. I could still feel the air make its way painfully into my chest due to my heavy breathing, my excitement, my joy. My sight was full of multi-coloured blobs that ever so slowly disappeared to clearly revel the scene in front of me.

I didn't need to see in order to see what was in front of me though, I knew that my enemy was dead, I had heard the cannon fire to signal the death of who I wanted dead, but my body still wanted to move, my mind was rushing with a million thoughts a second. I couldn't think straight, and I didn't want it to think straight either, all I wanted to think of was of fighting and only fighting. My body was on a rush, and it felt good, but it also felt wrong. I didn't stop it though, I let it flow its course with little resistance, because this feeling of power, something that was only a dream for a poor farmer boy back home, was overwhelmingly good. I loved it.

I continued to stab my knife into the dead tribute, feeling the resistance of her flesh slide against my knife. It was just like my other fights, I just didn't know when to stop. Or more truthfully, I didn't want to stop, I just wanted to keep going, it just felt so good. Each stab to her chest gave me a rush of joy as I felt the knife sink into her flesh, as I felt her warm blood splash onto my hands, my arms, my chest, and my face. There was no other feeling like what I was experiencing at the moment. I was the one that controlled whose life was to expire. With the simple actions of a stab and slash, a life was at my mercy. I was death's messenger, and the message was that your time was up because I deemed it so.

"Druid," Saddy's distorted voice called out to me, no louder than a whisper, but at the same time, it was one of the loudest noises I had ever heard. "She's dead."

"I know." I said as I continued to sink the knife into her body, feeling the pleasant warmth of fresh blood splash onto my body.

"Then stop doing that." She pleaded with her whisper and shout. It was strange to hear the volume of her voice like that. It confused me. Why did she sound like that? Why did her voice sound twisted up and not like her own?

I stopped, but only for her. If it were up to me I'd still be stabbing this body and continue to feel this rush of pleasure.

I breathed in and out some more, trying to calm myself down, trying to get myself away from my primal instincts and come back to reality again. And as much as my inner self hated me, I managed to get my breathing to grow softer and calmer as my heart slowed down and the spots in front of me slowly disappeared, allowing me to see the world in colour clearly again.

I wanted to continue to feel the much needed pleasure that I had discovered by murder. It was wrong, I know, but it felt so right. I wanted to live in the moment, forever. But I stopped, for her, and only her.

I felt Saddy's hands wrap around my chest as she said.

"Come on Druid, let's go." I managed to stand up with her help, the burning pain of my injuries getting to me now that I was out of my animal like state. Another reason I hated returning to humanity.

I saw the bright red blood on my hands and knew that most of it wasn't mine, it was from the one I had slain.

But the burning sensation that I felt was my own. I looked down to see all the deep cuts that I received in the arms, the one long, wide cut that I received to my stomach that threatened to spill all my guts out of my body if I moved the wrong way even once. I placed my right hand over my stomach to hold in my guts in, or at least keep in as much as I could. My chest was also covered with cuts and blood and holes, I didn't have long to live with all this blood pouring out of me like an over flooded well.

From the sudden wave of pain I was experiencing, the sight of some of my own purple and brown intestines hanging out of my stomach like loose ropes, and the feeling of my right hand touching soggy, slimy, overgrown worms became too much for my body as I felt something build up inside my stomach before it rose to my chest.

I then felt the warm, acidic taste of metallic blood rush out of my mouth as I vomited the thick, crimson liquid from my mouth, leaving a retched taste that I could only describe as warm, metallic, and raw horse liver.

But as I looked beyond myself, I knew that my injuries were nothing compared to the one that laid before me. The girl from District One, also known as Gold, laid in the bloody plain of grass as her blood pooled around her body. The injuries that Saddy and I gave her were much more intense then the ones that I, or even Saddy, had received, but that still didn't mean that the wounds that Gold had given us weren't harmless.

Gold Evergreat had two bloody holes where her eyes should have been, her face was so cut up and caved in that even her mother wouldn't recognize the red paste in front of her. Even her hair, whatever hadn't been torn from her scalp, had turned from the bright sun like colour it had been to a dark red, formed from her own blood, and the blood of her victims. The teeth that she used to smile with, the ones that seemed to sparkle whenever she opened her mouth, were all missing, scattered somewhere in the field around us, leaving an empty mouth filled with nothing but blood, bits of tongue, and flesh. And that wasn't even mentioning the rest of the cuts and holes and guts and bones sticking out of her body like some sort of grotesque Capitol clay art model.

Gold's body looked like it had been chewed apart by wild dogs, about half of her skin was missing, ripped from her bones, while her intestines looked as if they slithered out of the hole her stomach used to be. Her ears were missing from the mess that was her head. Not all of her fingers were sill attached, and what was attached was broken, bits of bone were sticking out. Flaps of skin that had been torn from her body gently moved in the direction of the summer breeze while some of her limbs were twisted into impossible angles. And blood, blood was everywhere.

Even to me right now, it was hard to imagine how the two of us could have possibly done that to that girl. How could we of twisted her body into that shape and form? I didn't think about it too much, this was the Hunger Games, and things like this have happened before. Nothing is impossible in the games.

"Druid," Saddy, her voice much clearer then before, much more normal sounding in volume and identity now, said to me with sadness in her voice. "We're the only two left."

"I know." I told her painfully. We were the only two left, and that meant that one of us was either going to have to kill the other, or one of us was going to have to commit suicide.

I turned around to look at my district partner, my friend, the girl I loved, and saw that her face was full of pain. The pain on her face wasn't from the fact that her left cheek had been torn from her body, revelling that side of her mouth, or the fact that her face had a huge diagonal slash across it, or from the other numerous cuts across her body. No, her pain was more from sadness than pain, and I bet I had the same painful look on my face as well.

I knew what this was about, because I had the same thoughts rushing through me head as well.

"We have choices Druid," Saddy told me with tears building up in her still functioning eye. Her gorged out eye dripping out bloody red chunks that looked like crushed grapes. I knew what those choices were, but that didn't mean that I wanted her to say or do any of them. I had already made up my mind long ago. "We can either fight to the death," She said as I clutched my bloody knife tightly, only half listening to what she had to say. "One of us can kill themselves so that the other will live," I started to lift my knife up so that I could get the deed done. I wanted it to be over, for the both of us. "Or we can die together." She said.

I stopped raising my knife in surprise. This was unexpected.

"What?" I asked her, wondering what she was thinking. This was just too odd.

I saw her pull out her own seven inch combat knife and held the point to my throat. I could feel the cold steel, mixed with some warm blood, on my skin as she began talking again.

"We can kill each other," She told me calmly, like she wasn't talking about the both of us dying in the next minute or so." If we both can't go out, then none of us should win this damn game."

"Is this a joke?" I asked her with deadly seriousness, not looking at the knife against my flesh, but towards her. I wasn't afraid of death, I was afraid of something else. "If it is I'm not laughing, you think that we can just pull off a Katniss and Peeta stunt like that? You think that I'm stupid? Am I a Peeta to you?" I shouted that last sentence angrily at her. It was so loud that I could hear the echoes perfectly, even after the first three echoes, until it disappeared completely, somewhere in the grassy plain that seemed to stretch forever in every direction.

Last time someone pulled a stunt like this was back in the seventy fourth Hunger Games, a sixteen year old bitch called Katniss Everdeen and a sixteen year old lover boy named Peeta Melark were supposedly in love with each other, but it turned out to be one sided. While Peeta Melark loved Katniss Everdeen with all his heart, or so it seemed, Katniss Everdeen was nothing but a manipulator and a heartless bitch. When they threatened the Capitol with a double suicide, the Capitol accepted their challenge, and won. Couldn't say I was surprised.

It turned out that fire bitch didn't really love camo boy. The berries proved it. Peeta ate the nightlock berries, but Katniss didn't. She manipulated everyone in order to survive.

Was I about to know how Peeta felt when he went to where ever the hell he went? Was I about to be betrayed by the girl I was trying to save?

I... Didn't know how to feel, so I let the emotions come to me without hesitation. I felt anger and confusion.

"I'm not fooling around Druid," She calmly, gently said as she looked down at my knife. I looked down at my knife as well as she grabbed it with her free hand and raised it to her throat. "I'm serious about this, wither you, or the Capitol approves of this, I'm not a Katniss Everdeen, and you're not a Peeta Melark. I'm Saddy Norris, eighteen, resident of District Ten, and your Druid Ray, Seventeen, resident of District Ten and the best kid I know." My heart filled with joy hearing those words from her. But I still had my doubts.

"What makes you think that I should believe you?" I asked, still feeling anger and doubt in my mind. "Katniss said the same thing before making Peeta commit suicide."

"Because I promise you," She simply said. "And when have I ever broken a promise to you?" Never. You always kept your promises, even in this hell hole, you kept your promises. Something that rarely ever happened. And one of the reasons that I never betrayed you and always trusted you watching my back.

"Okay." I told her, satisfied that she wasn't joking, before she lowered her knife to my stomach.

"At the same time." She said, lowering her knife to my stomach.

"Yeah." I told her, knowing what to do.

"I promised," She said to me. "Now what about you?" After all this, there's no way that I'd not do this.

"I promise you." I told her with every feeling that was inside me.

"Good," She replied happily. "I'll count down. We stab each other on one."

"Sure." I told her, not caring how we did this. And even though I believed her, I mentally crossed my fingers just in case she pulled a Katniss stunt on me.

"Ten." She started. "Nine." Did she really mean it though? How do I know that she wasn't manipulating me like Katniss did with Peeta? "Eight." No, she wouldn't, she never breaks a promise. But Katniss did act pretty damn good when she pretended to be in love with her district partner. "Seven." Was this all an act? Had I fallen into her trap? "Six." I loved her, but did she love me back? Did she really love me back? Was this all fake? "Five."

Had she just manipulating me this whole entire time? How did I know that any of this was real?

Feeling that I was being used, I stabbed her in the stomach before twisting the blade and ripping the weapon out of her gut without another thought.

I gasped at what I had just done as the situation dawned on me like a stampede of animals trampling all over my body.

I felt terrible, I had just stabbed her on a whim. A stupid, fucking whim upon impulse.

I dropped my knife in shock as Saddy feel to her knees.

"Saddy!" I shouted as I grabbed her and hugged her tightly with my arms. What had I done? "I'm sorry Saddy!" I cried to her, feeling the tears in my eyes burn me as I felt my heart getting caught in my mouth. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Why did I do that? Why did I stab her like that? She was the one that I had protected this entire time. She was the one that was supposed to live, the one that was supposed to get out of here alive.

We had only known each other for the past two weeks or so, but I felt closer to her then I ever felt for any other girl.

I protected her from every danger in this whole damned arena, I killed people, other kids, to protect her. We were supposed to kill each other at the same time, and yet, I stabbed her so soon.

All this time I was worried about her betraying me, but in reality, I was the betrayer.

Why? Why did this happen? How did this happen? Why was I such a fuck up?

I grabbed the knife in her hands and pulled it, but it wouldn't come out of her hands. I tried again, but she held on to that knife with an iron grip, despite the fact that she was rapidly losing life. "Let go Saddy!" I shouted. "I need to make this right!" I tried to pry the knife from her, but she continued to stubbornly hold.

Let go damn it! I need you to stab me! I need to let at least your knife stab me!

"Druid," She said weakly, but happily for some reason. "You did make it right."

I was confused by her words, what did she mean that I made it right? I betrayed her, how was that making everything right?

"Wha-" I said confused, losing my will to fight for the weapon. "What do you mean?"

"Because Druid, I'm not ready to be a Hunger Game champion." She explained, her voice getting raspy. "Or rather, I simply can't be the next champion."

"But," I thought we were going to kill each other, it was her idea after all. "We were going to die together."

Saddy gave out a weak cough, sending out a small amount of blood from her mouth, to my arms.

"Druid," Her voice now struggling to produce clear words. "I'm not strong enough to survive in this world anymore. You however, are." She then gave out a weak laugh that sounded painful for her to even do. No doubt it was my fault. "This is probably the worst time to say this, but I really do love you Druid, even though we've only known each other for fifteen days."

I cried even harder. This was too much for me to handle.

"I love you to Saddy." I told her.

"And Druid," She weakly said. "I was never going to stab you anyway." Her saying that, only made me feel worse. "Because some promises... Need to be broken."

I held on to her for the last seconds of her life before she expired. Her cannon fired, telling me that she was dead, because of me.

She was smiling, smiling even in the face of death and betrayal. But I couldn't see any reason for her to be smiling. She shouldn't of thanked me, she should of shouted at me, let me stab myself with her weapon, let me bleed out into the grassy plain. I deserved nothing less.

Her being angry at me would have been easier to bare with.

"I now give you the winner of the One hundred and twenty ninth Hunger Games," The announcer's stupid voice boomed through the arena as I closed Saddy's eyes, saving her from looking at me and what I had become. "Druid Ray!"

I had won, but at what cost? I thought I was protecting her, so my actions were justified, that's what I thought when I killed my first victim. I told myself, you're protecting Saddy, they were trying to kill her, and you have to protect her from these monsters.

But looking back now, even just a minute ago, I saw that I was also a monster. I started out as many of the other kids back home, scared and unwilling to kill anyone.

I made my first kill on the first day of the arena, back then, I was a scared kid that was horrified when I killed Cane Kellar, the boy from District Nine. Back then, after I killed him, I just couldn't believe that I killed another kid, it haunted me, it sent chills down my entire body to think that I had taken another kid's life.

But I had changed from that scared kid that I once was, to someone that would murder and mutilate another teenage girl so badly that her mother wouldn't recognize her before stabbing the girl that I loved, simply because I didn't trust her for a second. I was a murderer and a betrayer.

I now realized that I was a monster as well, and protecting Saddy didn't justify anything.

I now realized that while I was worried about her becoming a Katniss Everdeen, I was actually the fire bitch in another body. This entire time, I had played the game with my own selfish reasons guiding me.

I also realized now, why decent people never win the games.

The worst part? I still felt a part of me telling myself that I was happy. Not only for living, but for the violence, and death of Saddy.

**One year later.**

I watched the third quarter quell for the... Who knows what the number is? I just know I've watched it many many times, watching the former victors go back into the arena because the Capitol wanted to show that even the strongest couldn't take down the Capitol.

Everyone that thought they were safe from the Capitol's reach, were actually now the ones in danger.

Wither it was just a fluke, or because President Snow changed the quarter quell card I did not know nor care, but it the perfect time to kill Katniss Everdeen, the girl who manipulated the Capitol.

I read in some Capitol history books that Katniss was still kind popular in the Capitol, even though she betrayed the boy who loved her, and had an influence in the increasing levels of rebellious acts throughout Panem. Even though she was a lair, traitor, selfish bitch, she was the icon of a new Panem for the short while she was still alive.

It made me sick to think that this girl was the influence of the, not even started, or at the very best, short lived, second rebellion. There were so many things that could of started a rebellion, and this girl was the catalyst? Not the hunger? Not the deaths? Not the Capitol? Not the games? But her? Sickening.

What did she do that was so special? Love in the arena? No, that was fake. Try and challenge the Capitol with those berries? That had been a failure. Showed pity for her little ally, Rue? Others had done it before her.

Maybe it was when District Eleven sent her a gift for showing that she cared about Rue, or maybe it was what the twenty four victors did during the interviews of the third quarter quell, held each others hands like a chain that was linked together, to symbolize that the districts were once one, and they could be one again if they all worked together. That could of been it, but Katniss wasn't the one that should be credited for that piece.

I just couldn't understand how she could of started something so big.

On screen, I watched the bloodbath for the seventy fifth Hunger Games begin with barley above mild interest as I had seen it time and time again. I knew what was going to happen as the events played out in front of me.

Some tributes dived into the water immediately after the gong sounded, others were hesitant, but they all jumped in eventually. After all, they couldn't stay where they were forever.

The tributes that reached the cornucopia soon discovered that the only supplies it held were weapons. The Capitol was going for a quick game, no messing around with backpacks of food, water, medicine, or protective shelter, they wanted the games to be done and over with as quickly as possible.

I could see why they needed to do that, Capitol history says that the third quarter quell was unpopular among the Capitol audience, as they were going to miss their precious victors, idols, sex toys, and so called friends. But they were also trying to kill Katniss Everdeen in hopes that it would put out the fire she started.

The bloodbath took out the weak, the old, the drunks and the drug addicts while leaving only the strong left to fight.

Among the strong were two main alliances, the anti-careers that consisted of District Three's Beetee Micro and Wires Coil, District Four's Finnick Odar, District Seven's Johanna Mason, and District Twelve's Katniss Everdeen. The other alliance, the careers, consisted of District One's Cashmere Sparkle and Gloss Sparkle, and District Two's Brutus Maximums and Enobaria Vice.

District Four's Mags Kale, District Seven's Blight Oak, and District Twelve's Haymitch Abernathy, I suspected, were going to be in the anti-career alliance, but Mags got speared in the back by Brutus while Blight ran into the force field as blood rain fell from the sky while Haymitch easily got disposed of by the District One twins.

Slowly, one by one, for the next three days, the careers killed off the anti-careers and anyone else they could find.

The anti-careers main fighters were Katniss Everdeen, Finnick Odar, and Johanna Mason, those three were the front line warriors while Beetee and Wires were support.

The anti-careers had been planning something, as they were setting something up before the careers attacked them.

The epic fight between the careers and the anti-careers was quick and brutal, but both sides took major casualties.

Katniss, taken by surprise, was useless at close range as she got bitten in the neck by Enobaria. I watched with satisfaction as Enobaria ripped out a bloody chunk of her skin while also ripping out a red string attached to Katniss' neck as blood sprayed in every direction, painting Enobaria's face with liquid red.

Enobaria was then skewered through the head by one of Finnick's tridents. The trident was shoved through her head so hard that it cracked the back of her head open before spilling out chunks of raw meat.

At the same time, Johanna single handedly fended herself against the District One twins, trying to keep the two of them back with her hatchets.

The twins attacked as one, and while District Seven's only living female victor managed to defend herself against one attack, the other got through to her and managed to stab her through the side of her skull.

Gloss, having a second mouth appear across his neck an instant before it started to drool red, started to bleed out as he choked on the thick blood. Cashmere, momently stunned by her brother's unstoppable death, got stabbed in the back by Finnick.

The final showdown between Finnick and Brutus was the climax of the quarter quell. Finnick, despite being younger than Brutus, just couldn't fight the sharp reflexes and over whelming strength of the older victor.

After killing Finnick with his own Trident by stabbing him through the mouth and severing his spine from his brain, Brutus gleefully murdered the District Three pair, bashing their heads in with his fists, claiming that he never liked them anyway.

I shut the T.V off and sighed.

"And that's," I said to myself. "Is how you kill the second rebellion." I said that every time I finished watching the third quarter quell, it was like a tradition for me now. When I had started I couldn't remember, not that it matters I guess.

As I sat in my victor house, I thought of what the events of the rebellious acts of some of the districts, mine included, did for the districts of Panem.

Because of that girl, that fire bitch, the districts only became worse then they were before. I don't know what happened to the other districts, but I know that just by my home, things have gotten worse. My grandparents, who lived through the changes following the rebellious acts of the district, said that poverty in the district became higher, starvation rates soared while the number of peacekeepers increased and more people were whipped, tortured, and publicly executed. Methods of punishment became more creative and brutal.

Our lives had gone down the drain because of that girl.

But in a way, I was glad that it had happened. After all, it was bound to of happened at one time or another, since the tension was high before. The rebellion was done and over with, and now we were suffering even more, but at least we all knew that it was impossible to defeat the Capitol now.

We weren't going to go on any rebellions, we weren't going to make our lives any harder than they already were, we weren't going to sacrifice more lives in vain, we were just going to live.

Now here we are, living like nothing had ever happened. The Capitol continues to rule us, and the Hunger Games continue.

Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire. A fitting name for her since she was the one who created wild fire across this damn country. They said she was a beacon of hope, but all she really was was an unsteady oil lamp that fell and burned her home before spreading its inferno to her neighbours.

But for all she had done to everyone, Katniss Everdeen somehow remained a symbol, an idol, unforgettable. While Saddy, who was a better person than Katniss could ever be, was nothing more than another forgotten tribute in the arena.

Guess the only tributes that get remembered are monsters.

No. We're all monsters in our own way.

Hell, even Saddy was a monster for letting me kill her and leaving me in this dreadful world. And while I did want to join her in the afterlife, I wasn't going to let her gift of life go to waste.

With anger quickly building up inside me because of that thought, I gave the under side of the table a hard kick, a kick hard enough to send it airborne before it loudly crashed back onto the floor. The shattering of glass occurring almost musically.

Saddy may of let me live, but she certainly didn't give me life. The things that I have to live with, the things I have to do and the people I have to deal with along with the conditions I'm under. All of those added together with me living in this shittacular world made it a living hell.

Dying would be easier.


	2. A new leader

**"If payback is a bitch and revenge is sweet. Then I must be the sweetest bitch you'll ever meet." -Anonymous**

**Twenty minutes after the reapings**

**President Frost's POV**

"So here's the re-cap on the reapings," My secretary, Yori, excitedly said to me as I took a quick breather from finishing up everything that was going into the games and explaining to the gamemakers, engineers, and mutt controllers, what was basically going to happen in the arena this year. I couldn't guarantee them that everything I said to them was going to happen, but I did tell them what to maybe expect at least. Like if a tribute went into a certain building a certain kind mutt would be in there. But for the most part, I was just going to play it by ear. Nothing was ever certain, even if you spent months planning it.

It was my first year as president, and I wanted to make sure that I made an impact on the audience this year, show them that I can handle one of the more important things in the world's eyes, the Hunger Games. Really, it was one of the few things that everyone in the Capitol looked forward to, and as such, they wanted everything as close to perfect as you could humanly get it. The districts on the other hand just viewed it as another year of kids killing kids and wanted it done as quickly as possible as the parents and siblings and other kin wanted their family member to come back home and not die.

Well, this year was going to be perfect. A little different from what they normally expect, but perfect, because I was going to direct the games myself. This year, the head gamemaker was only going to be on display for show, because there had to be someone in that position of power. Presidents weren't supposed to get directly involved with the games themselves, but we were always there to either praise the head gamemaker, or to get rid of them if things didn't go over well.

All that was left was to see who would take part in this creation of mine, and I was excited to see who was going to play this year. "Starting in District One is Griffin Holloway and Lynsa Fylar." She explained to me as she dropped two open manila folders on my desk. Thankfully I had cleared the desk of notes, binders, snack wrappers, coffee cups, and other similar items off earlier today. I still couldn't believe that I spent over half the time at my desk doing paper work and writing up designs and the likes.

The bright orange haired women pointed to the picture of the male first. Short, messily gelled black hair and muscled all around with bright hazel eyes. He wore a stunning suit encrusted with jewels along with a simple rope necklace.

In big, bold text above his photo was his name, Griffin Holloway. Below his picture were basic facts about him, such as his district number, his age, how much he weight, hair colour, eye colour, family members both alive and deceased, and crimes if they had committed any. Just like the basic files were supposed to say. "First up is Griffin Holloway," She explained to me. "Age seventeen, volunteered, had to fight a couple of kids to get the spot." I liked that she spoke only what needed to be heard and not much more, it saved a lot of time.

Seventeen years old, he looked more like he was twenty, but being that strong would do things to people's looks. "Next up is Lynsa Fylar," My secretary told me as she moved her finger from the boy to the girl.

The next picture she pointed to showed a thin, pretty girl with brown blond hair with bright hazel eyes that looked nearly golden. She was wearing a white-pink sleeveless dress. "Age eighteen, volunteered, fought nobody to get on stage."

I was only mildly surprised to hear that she didn't have to fight anyone. Sure there were the occasional fights, but it still surprised me that there weren't more kids wanting to get the position badly as they had all been breed for the games.

Another set of heavy papers hit my desk with a light, scraping splash like sound before the open binders overlapped the previous tribute pictures. "Next up is District Two." Yori told me as she pointed to the male. He had shoulder length dirty blond hair and facial features that looked too small for his rounded face, and that included his light blue eyes. "First up is Lucifer Despar. Age eighteen, volunteered, fought every kid from age fourteen to age eighteen, or so it seemed."

That was typical for District Two, they fought things out rather than outright volunteered. I wasn't surprised to hear that he had to fight through nearly every kid to get his spot. "Next up is Helena Draconix," She explained to me as she pointed to the next photo.

In that photo was a girl who looked far too young to be a career with long black hair, almond shaped emerald eyes. She had a really small build, but was pretty at that. She wore a coral pink, knee length dress. "Who seems to want to be called Howl for some reason." That part didn't interest me as much as her name, I felt as if I heard that name before.

I looked down to the family section and noticed that everyone in her family was either a victor or a trainer. No wonder I recognized the name. "Age twelve, volunteered, fought every kid that wanted to volunteer. But she didn't fight directly per say, she hopped across their heads and shoulders before getting to the stage and knocked over the reaping bowl. Needless to say, there were lots of kids that didn't like that a twelve year old stole their spot in the games."

The girl interested me, not only from her family name, but her age and how she was able to get to the stage and beat the older kids to it. She hadn't been scared to go up against the bigger, older kids, and that was saying something considering her size and age. And the way she made an entrance was interesting as well.

Another set of open documents fell onto the District Two files. "District Three has this girl," She continued. "Nessa Christine Johnston. But for short, we'll just call her Nessa Johnston. Age twelve, reaped, shacked while trying to put on a brave face."

A girl the same age as Helena, but their looks were much different. This girl had a medium toned tan with red hair and green eyes, which was an odd combination of body features. But the real defining thing that differed them was that Helena willingly volunteered while Nessa had been reaped and scared.

But what interested me more was the boy that was reaped with her. The one wearing a fully covered metal facial muzzle around his mouth along with a tight straightjacket and a thick black cloth hanging loosely around his neck. He had dark brown hair that exceeded his shoulders in tatters along with a heavy build and sharp, dark green eyes. And like Griffin, he looked like he was in his twenties. "The guy you're looking at now is Zap Philistone, though he claims his real name is Tharizdun. Age eighteen, reaped, hated that the name Zap was called instead of Tharizdun."

Very interesting. "He had to be escorted by five peacekeepers to, and from the stage. Everyone seemed to of loved that he got reaped, except for Nessa and the escort." Very interesting indeed, he could be very useful in putting on a dream game. "Speaking of the District Three escort, you should probably have a talk to her about asking for volunteers and having an attitude problem. It's bad for television."

It was also bad for your career, or your life if it comes to that. I will have a talk with her when she comes back to the Capitol. If I don't give some sort of punishment, the Capitol citizens will be out raged, and the gamemakers and other escorts will think that they can get away with things, which wouldn't make anything better.

Another set of files appeared on top of the District Three pair. "First we've got Shoney Germoal," She continued as she pointed to a kid with ice blue eyes, short and messy light brown hair, and a barely noticeable tan. Something I would of expected to be heavier since he was from District Four.

And while he was small for a career, he was still healthier looking than a lot of kids in the non-career districts. "Age fifteen, volunteered, didn't have to fight anyone." Well, District Four was that career district where they may of been trained, but they still didn't have the same enthusiasm as Districts One and Two.

I looked over to the girl's photo as my secretary started to explain more about the wavy red headed, green eyed, and thin girl that, like her district partner, was thin but healthy. She wore a costume made of green scales. "Evaline Ellery." She told me as I looked at the girl with the scar across her right eye brow. "Age sixteen, reaped, was happy getting to the stage, but then her smile faded when nobody volunteered for her."

Reaped huh. Well, again, this is a place where some years aren't that full of volunteers in District Four. Kind of disappointed that there weren't two volunteers from Four.

The two District Four tribute photos disappeared as they were replaced by two new ones. "District Five." She said before pointing to the girl. A brown haired girl with brown eyes with large breasts. "Valerie Snake. Age eighteen, reaped, pleaded for someone to volunteer for her. Threw a tantrum like a little kid. Mayor's daughter."

Well that explained a lot, she was a spoiled kid that wanted everything her way. Being the mayor's daughter probably had a lot to do with it.

I looked at the other photo, to see a strange sight. A boy with white hair that hadn't been whitened by time and blood red eyes that looked like they hated the world. "Alexander Natas." She told me as she pointed her finger towards the white haired albino. "Age fifteen, reaped, walked up to the stage while ignoring the insults thrown his way."

Well, I guess he was hated in the district. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they called him a freak or a demon with that hair and eyes of his.

Another pile of files quickly appeared on top of the District Five ones. "District Six has Rayne Page." She told me as she pointed to the girl of District Six.

The girl had an interesting hair colour. She had many shades of blond on her head that went a little over shoulder length. The dye job was most likely homemade, as it had flaws all over the place. The eyes the colour of champagne, a thin body that was noticeably thin at the neck. She also had thick eye lashes with an uneven tan on her body along with a hooked nose. She also wore a simple red shirt and black pants. "Age seventeen, reaped, acted confident."

She probably acted that way. Most older kids try to do that instead of crying all over the stage. It looked pathetic when an older kid cried. "The next person is Ricky Coler." My secretary said before pointing to the male. A kid with pale skin, strawberry blond hair, and black eyes that looked more like huge pupils than eyes. "Age fourteen, reaped, just walked up there."

Hmm. Nice, nice. Interesting, though really, I was forgetting about Ricky already. The only reason I was still remembering him was because of his black, hole like eyes.

Another set of files appeared in front of me. "Up next is Sami Lavisa." She said to me, pointing to the orange haired girl, green eyed, pale skinned girl who wore a vintage tan dress. An interesting choice of dress. "Age fifteen, reaped, was scared."

Well, most kids seem to be that way, though this year's batch seems to be handling it quite good. Making me wonder how they'd react in the arena. I also wondered if they were faking emotions to make them look braver than they really were. "Next is Bo Heatherfield," She told me, pointing to the male. A blond, spiky haired under a white bandana, blue eyed kid with freckles across his nose and cheeks. "Age seventeen, reaped, scared."

Well, looks like the District Seven tributes had something in common with each other. "Oh yes, they also cried while shaking hands." My secretary added. It made me wonder if they knew each other, or were just that scared to go into the games.

Another pile of papers landed on my desk covering up the pictures of the two criers. "District Eight has December Juliet Varen, but to make things simple, she likes to be called Ember." Perfect, not too many people would want to say that whole name too many times.

I looked at the springy, curly, chocolate coloured hair that ran down to her mid back, her oval dark chestnut coloured eyes and slender body with a medium tan and wondered what her reaction was as she walked to the stage in a green shirt and white skirt. "Age fifteen, reaped, ran to the stage as fast as she could." Wonder why she did that? To get it over with?

"Next we have Dav Anders." She said before pointing to a picture of a kid that was fat in certain places on his body, black spiky hair, and blue eyes. "Age eighteen, reaped, angry." Angry. Well, that was uncommon of a tribute. A surprise if I can say that much. "He refused to shake Ember's hand, like he was too good for that." Must be a rich snob, like that Valerie girl.

The sound of heavy paper falling occurred again before their pictures were covered up and I was presented with two new pictures. "Now we've got District Nine," Yori said as she pointed to the girl with a thin body, brown skin, dark brown hair with dark brown eyes that appeared to be almost black. She wore a tanned, collared dress. "This one's Talliana Messine. Age seventeen, reaped, had a snarky attitude when asked if anyone wanted to volunteer for her. She claimed that nobody would volunteer for her."

I'm guessing she was right, she was on her way here, and hardly anyone would volunteer out of the career districts. "Up next is Arrowe Winter," She continued, pointing to a boy who had a pretty muscular body along with a semi-tan, short black hair, two black stud piercings in his right ear, and multi-coloured eyes. The one on his left was a dark brown while his right was a bright green. He wore a dark green button up shirt with three of the button missing from the top along with beige pants.

It interested my curiosity and made me wonder how he got the different colours. Was he an albino like Alexander? Or was it the results of something else? Heterochromia perhaps? "Age eighteen, volunteered, didn't have to fight anyone."

Volunteered huh. What an interesting kid, because as I had thought earlier, hardly anyone volunteers from the non-career districts. I wonder what made him do it.

I didn't even begin to think when another set of files were slapped on my desk. "I don't think District Ten has much of a chance and are better left forgotten, but, I might as well intreg you." My secretary told me as she pointed to the ginger haired girl with a really thin body, light blue eyes, small eyelashes and small lips. She wore a faded blue dress that looked a bit too small for her under an old work jacket. "Name's Life Lee, age seventeen, reaped, vomited on stage."

Some kids did do that upon realizing that they are going into the games, usually with the thought that they're going to die along with built up emotions. She must of felt like a damn fool after. "Next is Max Starling," She continued, pointing to the young boy with slender tan body, long brown hair, grey eyes and freckles across his face. He wore clothes that more resembled rags than clothes. Though that might be all his family could afford. "Age thirteen, reaped, cried on stage saying that it wasn't fair." Most little kids to that, it was annoying to watch. Those kids cried and cried, and yet, they thought that they could get out of it by simply using the sympathy card. "You might also want to have a conversation with that district's escort, Aera Hibiscus," The girl told me. "She also picked out the names without asking for volunteers, forced the two kids hands together, threatened the audience, and scratched the tribute Life Lee."

Damn. Not only did I have to deal with Starbright Williams of District Three, but now I had to deal with Aera Hibiscus of District Ten. It was going to take time out of designing the arena and making last minute preparations as well as disciplining the gamemakers to some changes that were going to be made for the games.

Another set of files was set on top of the previous files. "On to District Eleven which has this girl, Angel Hale." She explained to me as I looked at the picture of the girl who didn't look like she should be from that district. Light skin, green eyes, wavy black hair, and a minimal amount of freckles. She also had large breasts, surprising for someone that was supposed to be under developed. She wore a simple yellow dress.

I wonder how she managed to keep her skin white while in District Eleven. "Age fourteen, reaped, tried to look brave and failed." Expected as much. "The next one is Aerin Sevani. Escort had trouble saying his name." I would of loved to see her making a fool of herself. "Age fourteen, reaped, actually seemed kind of calm, helped his escort say his name properly."

He was probably putting on an act, kids that get reaped are scared, despite how they act. "Oh yes," She said like she just suddenly remembered something. "A search party was sent to get Aerin, something about misinformation or something or other."

What exactly did that mean? Did he try to run away?

No, this brown skinned, black haired, stocky kid wearing a white shirt and black pants wouldn't of been so calm going up on the stage if he was trying to run away. So why did a search party have to called for him?

Another set of papers was piled onto my desk. The last set of papers. The last tributes. District Twelve, the home to that mockingjay girl. The one who made a false promise to free the districts and bring ruin to the Capitol through a doomed rebellion.

I hated District Twelve with a passion because of that girl.

The rebellion may of not of gotten far, but she managed to create enough chaos for it to reach into the Capitol itself. And because of that, one of my best friends got killed by suicidal citizens of our hometown before the fuckers moved in to kill members of her family.

Some escaped, but I remember that they got caught and were executed in vicious ways. It was kept in the dark except for those related to the deceased family members. And because they had taken me in when my parent's lives had expired two years before the rebellion, I was considered part of their family, and was allowed to watch the executions.

While the Capitol folks around me were disgusted by the peacekeepers heinous acts, I watched with glee as they tortured the information out of them before lighting them on fire while they were still alive. I could still smell the stench of burning flesh to this day.

Thinking back, I found it funny how they cheered and loved the murders of the Hunger Games, but when the killing was in front of them, they puked their guts out and didn't want to look at what was happening in front of them. A complete contrast to how they acted back home.

District Twelve, I wonder what they had to offer. "Last up is District Twelve. That district might be trying to spark a third rebellion, or they just hate the Capitol a lot, because someone attacked the new escort, Crystal, by throwing a rock at her." Of course District Twelve would be the district to do something like that, I thought, as she pointed to the girl tribute. A blond haired, blue eyed, pale skinned that was actually good looking. She wore a blue dress with white trim on it. "Name's Evanlyn Scott, age fourteen, reaped, looked worried." Typical. "Next we have Colin Aldrin," She explained as I looked at the photo of the overweight kid with short blond hair and blue eyes. "Age seventeen, reaped, clumsy as hell as it took him a few tries to get up the stairs to the stage. Actually made everyone laugh." I bet, it was funny seeing someone hurt themselves. "And that's all." She finished, leaving a stack of manila tag portfolios containing basic tribute files on my desk.

I thought of the tributes and how some were different in their own ways, while others were the same in that same sense. Though, I wondered how they would individually act when they entered the arena, when they start changing for better or worse. When they start to revel their true colours and show the world who they really are.

I looked up from the files, to see my secretary leaving the room as quickly as she had came in.

She talked so quickly and paused so shortly that I didn't even get a chance to say anything, and she was going to leave me without letting me say anything at all? Well, she knew I was busy and I had told her that as well for the past couple months, but there was still something that I wanted to ask her.

"Yori." I called to her, causing her to stop in her tracks and look back to me with hints of fear in her body. She looked like she was worried that she had done something wrong. Very worried.

I couldn't understand why people did that to me. Why they were so scared of me. I mean sure, I could have them sentenced to death in a second, but I wasn't just going to do it to everyone that I saw or disliked. And if they did do something wrong, it would have to be pretty bad if I was going to kill them.

"Yes Mrs. Frost." She said politely to me.

"Do you think the games are too family friendly?" I asked, thinking about how The Hunger Games have changed from when they were first established and how they were today. How so much different they were compared to now.

I looked to Yori for her answer, in which she quickly replied.

"The games are meant for us to enjoy. We have everyone watching them with their family, which might involve kids. But while I do think that some of the games are a little too violent for the little kids, I do think that it should be more of an enjoyable event then anything else."

I felt my frustration level rise from hearing her say that. I didn't like her response, but then again, what was to be expected from a typical Capitol citizen like her.

"So you think rules like disposing cannibals, rapists, torturers, and censorship should be applied?" I asked her, wondering what she thought of that.

"Of course." She told me, making me hate this conversation even more. "Nobody wants to watch someone eating someone's heart. Or watching some guy rape a helpless girl." What made you so quickly think that a guy was the rapist? There have been times where a girl was going to rape a guy. "Torturer is no fun to watch." And watching someone kill someone else is? "So yes, censorship should be put in. I mean, it's not enjoyable if you not having any fun watching it is it?" She said to me.

"No, it's not." I said to her, thinking back to that day sixty four years ago. The day those prisoners were killed and the reactions of the Capitol citizens that witnessed it.

I also thought of how they were missing the entire point of the games. But this was the Capitol, and the games were meant to send a message to the Districts. "Thanks." I told her, not wanting to see her for a while. "You may go now." She happily obeyed.

I gave a deep sigh of frustration before remembering the gamemakers reactions for when I presented them my plans. Their shocked, horrified expressions. They looked at me like I was a monster.

Well, if that's what they were going to think I was, so be it, I was going to remind them and the districts what the Hunger Games were originally meant for. And more.

I began sorting the files over my desk, looking over anything that I might be able to use from them. And the more and more I looked the files, the more I thought, yes, I could use them, and turn my vision into a reality.


	3. Goodbyes

**"The music at a wedding procession always reminds me of the music of soldiers going into battle." -Heinrich Heine**

**District One**

**Griffin Holloway's POV**

As the peacekeeper in front of me kept on telling me that I could only see one person at a time and I could only be with them for a minute or so, all I felt was irritation. I just wanted to tell him to shut up, that I knew how this thing worked, that I was not stupid.

But by the time I was about to say it, he was done blabbering. He had turned his back towards me and was walking out the door. I grunted in a mixture of satisfaction and annoyance. Fine, be that way, I didn't need you to tell me how to say goodbye anyway.

I sighed and tried to relax as I felt specific parts of my body start to jerk about.

By the time I had taken my second breath, I heard the door open. I looked up to see my father walk in. And in his arms was Alura, my three year old little sister. Seeing her enter the room made calming down an even bigger priority. I didn't want her to get caught in the middle of a fight.

My father I didn't care about. He could get punched out by me and I wouldn't care in the least. But Alura, Alura was someone that I did care about.

"Hi son." My father said to me with the slightest trace of a smile on his face, something he rarely did since mom had died two years ago.

"Father." I answered with a little emotion as possible, as he didn't even deserve to be talked to on the same level as my little sister. I looked at Alura and flashed her a smile before saying, with more emotion. "Alura."

"Ti-Ti." She said happily to me. Ti-Ti, her official name slash nickname for me since she could speak. She couldn't say my name when she first tired, so she decided to call me something simpler, easier to pronounce. And since she first called me that, it stuck. It was cute, made me feel good.

"Father." I said still looking at Alura who was reaching out for me. Like she wanted to play with me again, like I wasn't going to be sent to my death. Which I wasn't, I was going to come back, and I don't know if she knew that, but I was coming back for her. I was going to come back a victor, and then we could play with anything she wanted for as long as she wanted. "Take care of her."

"I will." My father said like I had told him he was incapable of doing such a thing. Which he practically was. I was angry at him for that. I was the brother, not the father, for Alura, he was, and yet, who raised her? I did, not him. Me. I did everything while he just sat around in a slump and watched as someone else filled the father role of his daughter.

I was only asking him because he was the only choice at the moment. My other choice had his hands full and he, as much as he was a good care taker, wouldn't be able to aid Alura to the best of his abilities.

I gave a sharp exhale of bitter air towards the man who dared call himself our father.

Even though I didn't like saying anything to that man, there were things that had to be said. Especially in this situation.

"Useless."

"Cretin." The old man immediately countered, making me feel heat building up in my face. How dare he call me that! And he should be talking, he hadn't done anything with his life for the past two years! He had only been a burden, nothing else.

I quickly pulled back my right hand, curled my fingers into a fist, and threw said fist straight towards his face, only to feel the force of falling lead smash against my hand. My father had retaliated with his own fist, and both our fists had bashed against each other with such force that it would have broken anyone else's fingers. But of course, I wasn't just everyone else.

"Boy!" I heard the stupid peacekeeper who spoke jiberjaber moments earlier shout into the room. "You want to be ejected from this room in a couple of fucking seconds?" He asked as he pointed a rectangular, box like object as me as the front of it crackled with blue lightning. "Or do you want to see your next visitor? Either way, I don't mind."

I snarled at that peacekeeper for acting as tough as he thought he was. He was at least four inches shorter then I was and didn't look nearly as strong as myself or even my father. That, and he was nearly as old as my fifty six year old father. If he didn't have that weapon he was nothing. One on one, unarmed, I could easily beat him.

I gave an angry sniff at the two old men, giving them both glares.

I watched as my father took my sister away from me, as their time with me was up, and lead her out of the room. But not before I saw him turn back towards me and said a final word of farewell.

"Dragon." I heard him say before the door closed behind him.

Just hearing the name made me want to punch him in the face. I hated my older brother Dragon.

Dragon. That guy who was always the top dog of the family, the one that always got the attention of everyone while I was just viewed as his little brother. It was always well done, Dragon, and you're so good at this, Dragon. Compliments flew in his direction all the time, while no matter what I did, I was always being compared to that bastard, and it was irritating that I could never living up to his talents. And it was irritating that it was always about him. Well, I was going to show him, I was going to be what he couldn't be, a victor. He may have been older when he went in, but I'm better them him, I wouldn't die, I would come back and be the one people talked about. I was going to be the son that mom could be proud of.

Mom. I felt a pain in my chest thinking about her, causing me to gently take hold of the simple rope necklace around my neck. A momentum of her.

Even though I hadn't exactly lived up to one of my promises to her, I was going to fulfill my last promise to her. It was only by a year, so, what the hell.

The next person that appeared in front of me was Marq and his little four year old brother, Matt. Marq, my best friend, and only friend. As Marq bumped into the peacekeeper escorting him, I thought of how we were alike in a way. We both raised our younger siblings, we both lost someone precious to us, except he lost both his parents to the sickness that happened two years ago while I only lost my mother.

"Hey Griff." Marq said to me smiling partly out of embarrassment from shoulder bumping the peacekeeper that was manning the door.

"Hey Marq." I said back returning the smile.

"So," Marq said looking around the justice building taking in the scenery. It was a nice place if I say so myself, better than most of the places in the district even. "Going into the games huh, I could never do something like that." That was true, Marq wasn't the bravest person alive, but the games weren't for everyone, like most of the poor district kids who shit their pants upon entering the arena. But Marq was needed here, his brother needed him, and if Marq had somehow gotten reaped into the games, I'd of volunteered for him anyway.

"Hey," I said getting to the point. "Take care of Alura." I then felt something hit me in the shoulder before hearing Marq say.

"I will dude. At least, I will until you get back. Because really, the biggest, strongest, most skilled kid in District One can't lose in the arena when he has a sister to take care of."

I nodded, knowing that what he was saying was true. He and, to a lesser extent, my father, were only going to take care of Alura until I got back from the Capitol as a Hunger Games victor. Still, it felt good that someone would be checking up on my sister and making sure my near useless father actually took care of her.

I couldn't help but feel grateful to my best friend.

It was then that he had to leave, his time was up. I watched him walk out, partly because I was worried about him, he was hitting stone arches and tripping over the smallest things. But he managed to make it out okay in the end.

Alura, Marq, Matt. They'd be one happy family, even if I didn't make it. Alura and Matt, they'd be happy together, even if I wasn't there. But that chance was slim. I was going to be there, and I'd see that all of them lived happily. I gently rubbed mother's rope necklace and thought of her. I'd win for her as well. That was a promise I was going to keep.

**Lynsa Fylar's POV**

"You're lucky nobody tried to volunteer besides you!" My father shouted at me, like he almost always did. "If anyone even thought of volunteering this year, you wouldn't have even stepped foot on that damn stage!"

"But I did." I told him to show that I wasn't scared of him, only to get hit in the chest by his hard fist, knocking the wind out of me, causing me to fall to my knees. If only the peacekeepers didn't stand watch outside. Personal time to spend with my parents? More like personal torture time. Why couldn't they watch what was happening inside to see if something like this was happening and stop it?

"Don't back talk to me like that!" My father raged out at me. "The other tributes out there are bigger than you, even though you're eighteen!" He shouted while waving his arms around in a fit. "And you never wanted to train! What makes you think that you'll be able to beat that Griffin fellow? Or the District Two careers? Or District Four? Or the loser tributes? I bet you couldn't beat a twelve year old from District Twelve if you had a sword and they had no arms!"

I hate swords, they were clumsy and I'd rather kill them with an arrow instead. That was what I was good at. And I may be small, but I was stronger than some of the girls in this district. And I did train, just not up to their extreme standards that I felt were impossible to reach.

I managed to stand back up straight and look into my father's eyes that were always full of hatred towards me.

"I'll win," I told him fiercely. I wasn't going to back down just because him and mom beat me and made fun of me. "Then you'll see that I'm not just some little weak girl." My father looked like he wanted to hit me again, and I braced myself for it.

"Time's up!" A male voice shouted. I opened my eyes and saw more anger flood into my father's eyes. He was about to hit me, but that peacekeeper interfered. Thank God he interfered, I didn't want to get punched again, by my father of all people.

Next came my mom, which was about the same thing as my father. She told me that I couldn't do it, that I was weak, that I'd die in the bloodbath if I wasn't in the career pack. She managed to hit me twice before her time was up as well.

I was used to having my parents hit me and tell me how useless I was, but it still hurt. They were my parents and from what I've seen, parents weren't supposed to abuse their kids. It made me wonder why my parents were so different from the other district parents.

Next came my twin brother, Evan. Winner of the games from two years ago.

"Did mom and dad hit you again?" Evan asked worriedly. Out of my family, he was the only one who didn't abuse me, and the only one in the family who generally cared about my well being.

"Not too much." I fake smiled to him. "But I'm fine. Really." I didn't want to worry him too much. And I tried to show that I wasn't in too much pain, even though mom and dad were extremely strong, and pain radiated all over my torso area.

"I'm sorry." Evan told me looking like it was his fault that he couldn't protect me. But it wasn't his fault, he couldn't be with me every time something happened, and he shouldn't feel the guilt he had every time something happened. He was being too hard on himself.

My twin then looked up and smiled at me before saying. "That's a nice dress." And before I knew it, he started to leave.

The next thing I knew, the door had opened and Evan and Apollo looked at each other dumbstruck. It was like they didn't expect to see each other. And really, I don't think they did. But on the other hand, it was kind of funny seeing their expressions as they slowly walked around each other, not taking their eyes off the other.

As Evan left, Apollo entered.

"Hi there." He said to me sweetly as he closed the door behind him.

"Hi." I answered. I thought of Apollo, and how we meet at the training center. Back when I didn't have very many friends, and when I just needed someone to love. He gave me the love I needed. The one that mom and dad never gave to me. I was grateful for him, because Evan was too busy getting pushed by our parents to become a victory, and he hardly spent any time with me.

Who knows where I'd be without him.

"Are you scared?" He asked.

"Yes." I whispered truthfully, feeling as if I could tell him anything. And that was all I needed to say, because before I knew it, I felt his arms wrap around me. I then felt sad that I was leaving him. My best friend, who had given me everything I needed. What if I didn't make it back? I then felt tears build up in my eyes as I cried my heart out on his chest. I might love the Hunger Games, but at the same time, I hate them. The death, the glory, the way they made people. I hoped that I didn't meet someone like my parents in there, or some other psychotic tribute with a fetish for blood.

After crying with Apollo, and feeling a little better after that, I meet up with Areina, a girl who doesn't train, who I admired, because unlike most girls in the district, she doesn't want to be a victor. She didn't have to worry about dying young, or getting strong, skilled, or think about how your life would have been wasted if you didn't get on the stage on time to volunteer. I envied her so much.

Then next came my other friends, then came school mates, then came acquaintances. I was so happy, and so sad that people were coming to see me. I never even knew that may people knew me. That those people cared about me. Now I wish I had taken more time to know them. And I would, if I came back. Which I would, for them, for my friends, for Even, for Apollo. For all of them.

**District Two**

**Helena "Howl" Draconix's POV**

"Helena!" My mom shouted to me clearly displeased with me. "Your father and I are extremely displeased with your decision to volunteer!" I knew it. They always put me down because of my size. Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm not dangerous. I hated the way they thought that I couldn't take care of myself if I got into a fight. "Why are you doing this!?"

"So that I can show you all that I'm not some harmless little girl!" I angrily shouted to my mom to show that I mean business. "I'll show you that I can be a victor too, and at only twelve!" I was going to show her that everyone in this family, even me, could be someone to be proud of.

"That has got to be the worst decision you have ever made!" Mom shouted clearly annoyed. "Because of this, you'll come home in a coffin!" I smiled at her before telling her.

"You're just jealous because I'm going to win at the age of twelve, something that you could never do." And this was going to be the best decision that I ever made. I wasn't going to come home in a coffin, I was going to come home a victor, just like almost everyone else in my family.

"UGH!" Mom shouted clearly irritated with me. No, she was just jealous that I was going to be the most famous member of this family. Maybe even all of history! The thought of that made me want to tell a history book to get ready to remember my name. I felt my cheeks rise with the thought. "Why do I even bother trying to talk to you?"

"Time's up!" A peacekeeper shouted.

"Perfect timing," I told mom as I continued to smirk at her. "You were just about to lose this conversation."

"And you're about to lose your life!" She shot back. "Just remember that if you die, this family is going to discard you as both a daughter and a sister." She reminded me before leaving. As the door closed I thought of how everyone underestimated me just because of my figure. God. I may be small and thin. But mom wasn't that tall, and Elektra wasn't that tall either, and she was a victor. Fuck. I was always the underdog of this family. Why didn't anyone see me as victor material?

"Howl!" Called out a voice. I looked up to see my seventeen year old sister, Athena. "How's it going?"

"Be better if mom and dad didn't think that I couldn't win." Though really, I was going to have them eat their words when they saw me in the post-game interview. Athena's face fell into a frown as she heard those words.

"Sorry to hear that. I mean," She then started to smile again. "How could they think that this little thing could lose?" She said before she started to ruffle my hair. I pushed her hand away while smiling at her, covering up my mild soreness she just made towards her.

"This little thing is going to be the greatest victor ever." I told her confidently. And I was. There has never been a twelve year old victor before. I was going to be a living legend. I wasn't just going to make history, I was going to be history.

"Hope so." Athena said before leaving. "See you in the Capitol little Howler."

I hate being called little. Before I could say anything back to her, she was gone. And in her place came Azael, my nineteen year old brother. The charming and attractive one of the family that the girls flocked to. But I didn't think so, he's a jerk sometimes.

"Hey there little girl? What you doing here? You lost or something?" He teased. I didn't find it funny, I found it lame and annoying and over done.

"Very funny." I sarcastically told him before quickly adding. "What do you want?" Azael sighed.

"Just want to see how my little sis is doing." He told me with some sensitivity in his voice.

"Sure," I said looking away from him and crossing my arms, annoyed with him. "Sure you are."

"Look, sorry about mom and dad and everything, okay? Just, don't think about it right now, okay?"

"Fine, I'll try." I told him thinking of everyone's reactions when I came home victorious. Then he left. Short visit.

Next came in my fifteen year old brother, Xephyr.

"Elecktra couldn't be here," Xephyr told me as he was coming through the door. "But she told me to tell you that she's upset with your decision, same as me." Can't say I was surprised. I was being underestimated again. Why do they all do this? What the hell is wrong with me? How am I so different from everyone else? Except my size?

"Geez," I told him, irritated that neither he nor Elecktra didn't like me volunteering. "It's my decision." Xephyr might have my respect and he might be my favourite sibling, but that doesn't mean he can treat me like everyone else.

"You should have waited three or six years." Xephyr told me. "That way, we wouldn't have to see you die."

"I don't need six years," I told him calmly. "I don't even need one year, I'll win, and then everyone will know not to underestimate me again."

"Well," He said smiling. "If that's the way it is, show them whose boss." Yeah, I thought happily, that's why you're my favourite. Thanks for saying that bro. "Oh yes, Athena and Azael forgot to say, win, or we'll kill you personally."

"Tell them that won't be necessary." He nodded his head before leaving.

Next rushed in three people. First I saw twelve year old Aurora, then thirteen year old Nexus, followed by fourteen year old Ares. My three best friends.

"Hey!" A voice shouted behind them. It was the peacekeeper guarding the door. "One at a-" He started, but then seemed to instantly re-think his words. "Forget it." He then closed the door before my three friends crashed into me sending me to the floor laughing.

"There's our victor!" Aurora shouted cheerfully. Unlike my family, at least she's good to me, one of the things I really liked about her.

"Damn straight!" I told her, feeling the pleasure of people that actually thought that I had a chance and didn't judge me on my decision to compete.

"I can't believe it, this tiny thing's beating me!" Nexus shouted in what I guessed was jealousy.

"Don't call me that non-volunteer baby!" I retorted as I grabbed him into a headlock and started to rub my knuckles against his head. He tried to fight out of it, but I held firm.

"Says the one that broke the reaping bowl!" He said as he struggled against me. "Can't you do a proper combat roll?"

"Says the guy who's not going to win the games before me!" Thinking that he had enough, I let him go. He rubbed his head in mild pain.

"Can't beat her there." Ares told him. "No matter what you say or do, she'll always win first."

Ares. "That is, if she wins." I pushed him back before laughing confidently.

"I'll win, you can bet on that, unlike someone." I said looking at Nexus.

"Yeah... Well... I'll..." He said struggling to find his next words. "I'll volunteer next year."

"I still beat you." I told him, not even having to think before responding.

"Hey, shut up." He responded quickly, but with the despair of feeling defeated. Yes, I win again.

"Guys, we're going to run out of time." Ares told the group before they all pulled themselves together and became serious. That was when Ares pulled out an emerald green notebook from his jacket pocket. "We got this, for you."

"For some reason, Ares kept on insisting we get the emerald coloured one." Nexus interrupted. And that made me think, did he feel the same way I did? Did he feel for me what I felt for him? I was never sure. Was this his way of saying it?

"I thought that was best." Ares quickly said. "Anyway, we want you to write about your adventures, so that when you come back, we can write stories about the young victor of Two."

"Plus you love writing, don't you?" Aurora said.

"Thanks guys." I told them happily, thinking that this was a better token then some useless trinket. "I'll write down everything, then, I'll be back and we'll be playing again."

"You better not lose." Ares told me before the peacekeeper told them that their time was up. As all three of them left, I held the notebook close and tight to my chest. They believed in me, they all did. That's why I loved them so much.

**Lucifer Despar's POV**

"I've trained my whole life for this," I told my mom who was standing there worried about me, even though there was no reason to. "I'll be fine, who's going to kill me? That little girl that volunteered with me? Some untrained tribute from Twelve?"

"The other careers." My mom answered. She was worried, so worried about me that it hurt me just thinking about it.

"Don't worry mom," I said trying to make her feel better. I didn't like seeing her like this. "I can take care of them, and if I can't, I can run away, I can run forty yards in just over four seconds, they won't catch me."

"But what if you get into a fight?" My mom asked. "You're not going to be the strongest one out there." I couldn't think of that, the best thing I could tell me mom was

"Strength doesn't mean everything." It was at that moment that the peacekeeper guarding the room told her that her time was up. Mom left, dad entered. I just hoped that what I said to her made her worry less.

"Son." Dad said proudly as he opened his arms and gave me a big huge which I returned. "I'm so proud of you boy."

"You made me into this." I told him happily, glad that he wasn't in the same state as mom was. "A future victor." That's exactly what he did. He pushed me and pushed me to train. But I knew that it wasn't just for him, it was for me as well. So that my future would be good, perfect maybe. I was going to prove that my dad was good trainer, that I was a good fighter, and bring glory to this family.

"I know that your life was uneventful," My dad told me. "But you'll see that it was worth it when you win." I had known that for a long time. Most of my free time was spent training, and I had known that it would eventually make me a victor. Eventful times could come after my victory.

"The Draconix family isn't the only family that can win in District Two." I told my dad, thinking that that family was getting too cocky for their own good. I mean, volunteering at twelve years old, how cocky could you get? "Other families can have victors here, like us." Their little girl wasn't going to stop me. With my experience and training, I would be the next victor. I wasn't the biggest, or the strongest, or even the smartest person in the world. But what matters, is how you put everything together. My dad and I broke free before looking at each other and smiling.

"You make me so proud." My dad told me. I had him to thank. If it weren't for him pushing me, I'd never have made it this far.

"All thanks to you dad." The peacekeeper then told dad that his time was up and he had to leave. Dad gave me one last farewell, then he left.

Next came my friends, first Thor, then Lan, then finally, Mikov. We talked about how I was going to be a victor, how I spent my life training for this. We joked about how that Draconix girl was too cocky for her own good, joked about life. Talked about what would happen if I didn't live. That scared me the most. What if...I didn't come back?

**District Three**

**Nessa Christine Johnston's POV**

"I'm so sorry Nessa." My mother cried. "If only I were younger I'd volunteer for you." If only I hadn't been chosen. I couldn't go in there, there were eighteen year olds who trained for this, compared to them, I was nothing.

"I'm sorry for being reaped." I told her, not feeling well for putting her through this misery. "If I hadn't-"

"You can't choose to be reaped or not," My mom told me while still crying. "It was just...bad luck." More than bad luck I thought. It was a miracle that I lived, it was the opposite to be reaped now. It was almost like fate wanted to take that miracle away. And from the look in my mother's eyes, she could tell it was the same.

"Mom, I was a miracle right?" I asked her. My mother wiped her nose on her shirt sleeve before answering.

"Yes." I was born prematurely. I wasn't supposed to live. I'm not supposed to her here right now. But here I am, living, right now, making everyday a joy for my parents.

"Well," I smiled, thinking of something good. "Maybe another one will happen. Maybe I can get through the games." That seemed to make my mother feel better, because now she was smiling. She was still crying, but smiling at least. That made me feel better.

"Maybe." My mother breathed. "Hopefully." It was then that the peacekeeper told her that her time was up. I didn't like to see my mother like that, but at the same time, I didn't want her to leave.

"I'll win mother!" I shouted to her as she was going to the door. She turned back and faced me as I shouted. "I'll win! I'll come back home and show you that I am a miracle!" I meant every word of it.

I saw my mother smile before my father entered the room and the door closed behind him. My father smiled at me before saying.

"That's what we want to hear." Father then walked up to me before saying. "You know, your mother wasn't that much older then you right now when you were born."

"I know." I told him. Mom was fourteen when I was born, that in a way, was something. "She's something all right."

"Yeah," My father said looking up to the roof. "She is."

"Father." My father looked at me before saying.

"Yes?" Even though it was a long shot. Even though it was almost unheard of. Even though there were monsters in the barbaric games. Even though I was weak, unskilled, and not all the healthy. I said.

"I will win. I will win. I will return. And we'll be together again." That, was a promise. A promise that I was going to go through with.

"I'd like that very much." My dad said to me.

I'd like it very much as well.

**Zap "Tharizdun" Philistone's POV**

"I'll kill all of you!" I shouted at this whole fucking district. They thought they were safe from me just because I was in a straightjacket, blindfolded, and had a muzzle on!? They were wrong and foolish to think that. I was going to come back here after the games, and murder each and every person who dared do anything to me. They deserved nothing less.

I felt things hitting my body. They were probably hard objects. I wouldn't know, I couldn't feel pain. I was never hurt in my life. Not when I was burned, not when I was stabbed. I never felt pain in my life. Not physically, not mentally. I didn't feel anything when I burned down my home, killing my parents and my younger siblings. I wasn't sorry. I did that so that I could live alone and do my hobby in peace. So getting hit with objects was more of an inconvenience than painful. "Get over here!" I shouted at them. "I dare you! I dare you! I dare you!"

They wouldn't though, they were all too scared of me. And why shouldn't they? I was the reincarnation of a god. The ancient literature had described me perfectly, and what they described was a chained god of evil. A great god named Tharizdun. That's what I was, a god, not some boy called Zap.

"Go and die!" A voice shouted.

"This is your retribution!" Another shouted.

"Hope they spear your face off!" Another shouted.

Weak. That's what they were, weak. Too scared to face me themselves, so they stayed in packs, picking on anything they thought was defenceless. Like a pack of rats running from anything that came too near. They couldn't stop me, nothing could. Because. I. Am. Invincible.

And when I came back. The first person to go would be that thirteen year old bitch that ran away from me and told on me. I thought of how I was going to kill her as I got dragged away by those so called peacekeepers. Oh yes, she was going to pay. The images of what I would do to her played out in my mind, and it offered me some glee as I was being hounded by these inferior beings.

**District Four**

**Evaline "Eva" Ellery's POV**

As I stood in the middle of the justice building, I thought of what I was going against. Real careers, not like me. District Four, a half career half non-career district. If only I was reaped last year, there were volunteers for those two reaped kids. Only if. Those thoughts filled me with dread.

"Hi Eva." I heard a deep voice say. I looked over and saw my dad standing not twenty feet away from me. I looked over and smiled at him. He had made it. He got out of his depression, even just for a bit, to see me off. That alone, was worth smiling for.

"Hi dad." I responded happily. Ever since mom died, he hadn't been doing so well. I had to help him fish and everything. Not that it was bad, it had become more of a routine chore between the time I had started, and now, even though there were times that I just wanted to throw everything away and just quit. Plus, I knew that he wasn't mentally fit for the job. At least fully.

My father sighed and scratched the back of his head before saying.

"I know I haven't been there for you and Macey lately, but I just want to say, I'm proud of both of you."

"Dad," I said not wanting him to go back to the former shell of himself. "Please don't go back into depression, please take care of Macey."

"I'll try and get back to work." My dad told me. I knew it wasn't a guarantee but it was better than nothing. A start, and maybe it would lead him to getting better. We then just stood here looking at each other until the peacekeeper told him it was time to leave.

I would have liked more words with him, but I guess this was all that needed to be said.

Macey, my thirteen year old sister, came in next. And I didn't know what to say to her.

"Eva!" She shouted to me sadly. "You're coming back aren't you!?" I didn't know how to tell her that I didn't think that I was coming back. But I couldn't tell her that could I? So I put on a fake face and lied.

"Of course I'm coming back." I said putting on the fake smile. I'll be strong in front of her at least. "I'll come back for you." Macey seemed to cheer up dramatically when she heard this.

"Really?" She said in extreme happiness. The smile on her face, the way her eyes lit up from my lie. I just couldn't tell her the truth now.

"Yeah." I told her kneeling down to match her height, telling her that I was being serious now. "But until I come back, make sure you take care of dad, don't let him slip back into depression." She needed to do that, because I knew what would happen if he slipped back into the pit of sorrow, and it was anything but good.

"Okay," Macey told me. "I'll try." I then leaned forward and gave Macey a big hug.

"I love you Macey." I told her. She was practically my life. I did everything for her. If my brother Timothy hadn't died, I'm sure he'd be here as well. Macey and I stayed with each other until the peacekeeper told us that our time was up and she needed to leave.

I watched Macey exit the door while thinking that I was probably never going to see her again. That she was going to watch me die on T.V. But I wasn't going to let that happen, I was going to come back for her, no matter the cost. Even though I knew that the odds weren't exactly in my favour.

The next person that came in was my best friend Flora. We've been best friends since I could remember. She ran up to me and wrapped me around in her arms, which I did the same with her.

"I'm sorry Eva." She said sadly. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this."

"It's okay," I told her trying not to cry from both this and Macey's visit. "Better than someone else going."

"No, not it's not, unless you chose to go in it's not."

"Flora-" I started.

"Eva," Flora interrupted. "Win, just win, for everyone you care about, just, win." Flora then let go of me and held out a bronze fish shaped pin. "I didn't want Ruby to get anymore upset then she already is, and Ryder didn't want to exchange any bad words with you." Ruby, Flora's little sister. Ryder, my neighbour. They should have just come, it would have meant a lot to me. "They all chipped in to get you this though, to remind you of your district, who you're fighting for, so you won't forget." She handed me the pin before I wrapped my right palm around it and squeezing it, feeling the smooth metal inside my palm.

"I would never forget." I whispered, feeling that everyone around me was telling a dead girl to come home. It wasn't a good feeling. But I'd try to win, for them.

As the peacekeeper told Flora to get out, I couldn't help but think that I'd like one last swim in the river behind my house, to remember my mom by. Even if she drowned in it, it still held more good memories than bad ones.

**Shoney Germoal's POV**

The first person to enter the room was my older brother, Galex. As soon as he entered the room he ran towards me and picked me up in a giant bear hug that nearly suffocated me. I was frightened so much that I screamed in a frightful voice for him to put me down. God he was powerful. Lucky for me he realized his mistake quickly and placed me back on solid ground. I hope he didn't break anything of mine. I needed to be in one piece where I was going.

"Well look at you now!" Galex shouted proudly. "You're one step closer to become a real career! Now all you have to do is show your skills to the other careers and hope that they'll let you in the career pack!"

"Hooray for me." I monotonely told him. If anything, it should be Galex here, not me, but I thought, what the heck, it's not like any other time would be better. And I always wondered what it was like in the arena.

"Don't be that way Shoney," Galex cheerfully said smiling at me. "You've trained for this, you should be happy, after all, you volunteered for this."

"Yeah," I said with as little emotion as possible. "Guess I did." I'm just wondering what the games are really like, that's all. Let's not make a big deal out of this.

"Listen," My brother said grabbing my shoulders. "You're going to win."

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Because of this." My brother said before taking off his favourite leather bracelet and putting it around my left arm. "Now you'll have to return this when you come home." I didn't get it, he was always mom and dad's favourite, why was he treating me like this? "You will come home." He said fiercely.

"That makes one of us." I blankly told him.

"Shoney." He said looking directly at me with a serious look on his face. I didn't like the looks of this. "Say you will win and mean it."

Aw man, do I have to? Fine, whatever.

"Guess I will." I told him feeling that he really thought that I could come home alive, and who knows, maybe I will. "Guess I will." I said for real this time.

**District Five**

**Alexander Natas's POV**

They hated me because I'm an Albino. They loved to make fun of me because of my white hair and red eyes. That fucking warden placed me in a cage and charged people to look at me.

Those bullies, the warden, just about everyone in this district had done something to me. I wanted to kill them all in the most painful way possible. I wanted their blood to cover the streets of District Five. Nobody would be safe from me once I returned, not the men, not the women, not the children. They all contributed to my suffering, they can all be victims of it. Then after I killed them all, I'd set this whole damn district ablaze and watch the flames eat everything in its path. I felt myself smile as I thought of the bloody carnage I'd create. Yes, that was a delightful thought.

I heard the door behind me open and heard a deep voice shout.

"Hey freak! You've got a visitor!" Who'd come to visit me? Whoever it was I'd kill them. For now, I was immune, they couldn't kill a tribute before the games. How wonderful, a warm up victim before the games start. I turned around and saw the only person in this world that I didn't want to kill. The one that really talked to me and listened to me. Gabriel Ann Gel.

"Alex." He said as the door behind him slammed shut.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly. Even though he was maybe, just maybe my only friend, I still didn't trust him. He was with them, he was part of them. But even through all that, he was the only person that mattered to me. The only person that cared for me since my parents died when I was six.

"I want to know if you're okay." Gabriel told me. Shocker.

"I'm having some nice thoughts to calm me down," I told him while slowly walking to him. "I'm thinking of how many people were going to die if I come back." I told him, liking every word I heard myself say. "Wouldn't that be a great sight? All that red running down the streets? That's your favourite colour isn't it? Red? Or maybe it's orange. Which ever one it is, I can arrange to have it appear. Red for blood, orange for fire." Gabriel looked like he didn't know what to say. But that didn't matter, he never really knew what to say.

"Alex," Gabriel said not even looking at me. "I'm going to miss you and all, but I just have to say that, even though the games make you kill other kids." Gabriel took a pause before saying. "Try not to lose the humanity this district took away from you." I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but I didn't care at the moment. I leaned towards Gabriel and kissed him. Gabriel seemed started at that because he backed away from me quickly. He then looked at me with shock and confusion in his eyes.

"That's what normal people do when they're going to miss someone that means something to them right?" I asked not knowing if Gabriel would answer or not. He just seemed too in shock to answer for some reason.

"Okay you!" A peacekeeper shouted from the entrance of this room. "Time's up! Time to go!" I then saw him walk to up Gabriel and grab him by the shoulder and start forcing him away from me. I wanted to break his arm to stop him from taking the only person who mattered to me. So long Gabriel Ann Gel, I thought. Hope you live long enough to see this district run red with the people's blood and watch the orange flames consume everything in its path.

**Valerie Snake's POV**

"But daddy," I screamed at him because of this unfairity. "Why did I have to be chosen!? Why couldn't someone else be chosen?" My daddy sighed stupidly before saying.

"Because you were the one chosen, there's nothing anyone can do about that." That was no excuse, there were ways to get around this.

"Well why didn't she just choose someone else!?" I exclaimed. It's simple, all they needed to do was either choose another name or someone volunteered for me. "I mean, she could have just chosen someone else right?" Daddy sighed again. I hated when he did that, he did it often for some reason. Being the mayor I guess was stressful, but did he have to do it so often?

"You can only not go into the games, after the escort reapes you, if someone volunteers for you." He told me.

"Well then why didn't anyone volunteer for me!?" I asked. I was never meant to be chosen anyway, why did life have to be so unfair?

"You can't ask a person to volunteer for you." Daddy said again.

"But you could have bribed them." I told him. I just didn't understand what was going through his head at the time, it was so obvious what to do. But at the moment, all he did was do the annoying sigh he always did.

**Valerie Snake's dad's POV**

What did I do to deserve this, I thought. Why couldn't my only daughter just accept what was happening without making a fuss? I better get out of here before she started to have a temper tantrum that was as bad as her when she was six years old. I think that hit to the head affected her a bit.

"Time's up!" The peacekeeper that hit her over the head shouted. Perfect timing.

As I watched the peacekeeper drag away my daughter as she continued to cry out for my help, I began to think about what was going to happen to her. She was undoubtedly going to get killed off in the arena, as I knew that she didn't have a chance of winning.

And while she was spoiled rotten, unfriendly, and due to lacking a better word at the moment, stupid, I couldn't but think that she was my one and only daughter.

As she got dragged through the doors that lead to the train, I couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness inside me.

I missed her already.

**District Six**

**Ricky Coler's POV**

"Ricky," My mom cried out as she held me in her loving arms. "Why did it have to be you?" It's just the way it is mom.

"It happened." I told her returning her hug. I could tell that she couldn't bare to see her only son go into the games. But it happened to someone every year. As much as I didn't like going myself, I knew that there was nothing that could be done.

"Don't die will you." My mom begged to me.

"I won't." I whispered to her.

Her time then ran out and she was forced to retreat from me. Then dad came in and he acted the same way as mom, sad. But at least he wasn't crying and hugging me. I was going to miss both of them, after all, what were my odds of coming back?

**Rayne Page's POV**

The first person to come forward to say goodbye to me was my older sister. Good luck was all she said when she entered. Thanks, was all I replied to her before the room fell with silence.

That bitch didn't say anything after that and just played with her fake red hair while staring at the ceiling and tapping her foot, like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world. It pissed me off that she was acting like that, acting like she was forced to say goodbye to me and I wasn't worth her time. I knew that she'd rather be spending time with some horny, sex deprived guy in exchange for money.

I really hated her. She falls in love with the idiots in this district before getting pregnant and having abortions with her unborn kids. Pitiful. I hate her so much.

Then at last, her time was up. Thank God, I couldn't stand the sight of her. Having her in the same room with me any longer and I don't know what I would of said or done to her. I mean, that's some nice jewellery she was wearing. Sure it was mostly fake, but bracelets with gems were still gems. They were worth something to someone.

The next person that came in was my brother. This was a surprise. He was never around me a lot since he had moved out of the family house.

"Hi bro." I said to him wondering what he was doing here. Was he here to be like older sis and just say good luck or don't die?

"Hi Rayne," he said sadly. He then walked up to me and presented me with a black leather bracelet with a fine wooden charm attached to it. "Rayne," He said placing it around my arm. "You have to win this, you just have to." I then felt sadness creep up on me. He thought that I was going to win. It made me feel sad that he had that much faith in me.

As he tightened the bracelet around my arm I felt like crying. And just as quickly as he came, he left. Did he not want to spend more time with me then necessary? Or was that all he needed to say? I didn't even get to think about that, because now I saw my father and my little sister Zlata.

Seeing them, especially Zlata, looking at with sadness in their eyes, looking as if they were going to cry made me lose it. I have almost never cried in my life. I have more fingers on one hand than the number of times I've cried in the seventeen years of my life. But this was just too much for me, seeing father and Zlata there looking at me like they were going to lose me was just too much for me. I didn't like seeing them like this.

My father hugged my around my body while five year old Zlata could only hug my leg. That was all the comfort I needed from them. We stayed like that till the peacekeeper dragged us apart.

The next person to enter was my only friend, Zee. I hated the freckles around her nose as it made her look weird, but right now, it comforted me just to know that she had came here to say her goodbyes. She looked shocked to see me in my current state, but that was understandable, she had never seen me like this. And seeing father, Zlata, and Zee, I thought of what my brother said, that I had to win. And I was now going to win, so I could come back to them.

**District Seven**

**Sami Lavisa's POV**

Dad was 'too busy to see me,' as my nine year old twin siblings told me. Knowing dad, he probably didn't want to say goodbye to me. That was understandable, who'd want to say goodbye to someone forever? I didn't want to say goodbye to Gracie and Jhono, who were talking about what they were going to do when I got home from the games. They said that I might surprise people with my smartness. They said that I'd be smart enough to survive the games.

I liked that optimism, but I knew that what they were saying about me returning was most likely untrue, sad as it was.

"Hey big sis," Jhono called out to me. I looked at him and smiled wondering what he was going to say. "You will come back won't you?" I didn't know how to tell him that I wasn't going to come back, that I wasn't going to live through those horrendous games. I didn't want to tell him that. So I picked him up and nodded my head. He seemed happy about that, because he then presented me with a braided bracelet with three strings. One string was black, another white, the last one was a tan colour. "This is for you." Jhono told me as I used my free hand to take hold of it.

"It's meant to represent the three of us." Gracie told me as she pointed to the black string.

"That's Jhono because he's the bad one in the family."

"No!" Jhono screamed out "I'm white! You're black! I'm the good one!"

"I'm white!" Gracie screamed out at Jhono

"I'm white!" Jhono shouted at Gracie. I pointed to the tan one to try and soothe out the current situation, those two always fought, it was up to me to defuse it.

"What's this tan one mean?" I asked, hoping that it would distract them enough from fighting with each other.

"That tan rope's you!" The two of them told me in unison, seeming to instantly forget what they were fighting about. I was thankful that they wouldn't be fighting much more during my departure. The last thing I wanted was for them to feel guilty. To feel that they could of done something other than argue while their sister was going away.

The three ropes they handed to me, they were made to symbolize us together. It was a powerful symbol. I felt like crying when I thought of it. I had raised them ever since mom got too sick to take care of them. And dad's too busy to take care of them, as he was almost always working. The two of them really only had me to take care of them along with each other, so it was my responsibility to take care of them in the place of my parents. How would they react when one of those strings broke?

I picked up Gracie and held the two of them in my arms. The two of them were getting too heavy for me to pick up and hold, but this could be the last time I held them. And I was going to make the most of it.

**Bo Heatherfield's POV**

The Hunger Games. The killer games. The murder games. Whatever you want to call it, that's what they were to me, just one, big, killfest. That's where I'll be in a few days time. I don't want to kill anyone, and I don't plan on doing it, even if that's what people say you have to do in the arena. I'll hide. I'll hide until everyone has died fighting each other or died of other means, that's how I'll win. I just hope that that plan won't go wrong and I'll have to kill somebody. The thought alone sent chills down my spine.

I heard the doors burst open as I saw Floopy run across the room and fling herself onto me and nearly made me fall over due to her sudden appearance.

For a fourteen year old girl with little muscle, it surprised me that she could almost take me off my feet.

"Bo!" She cried out as I stumbled and regained my footing after a couple of steps. "Why did it have to be you that got picked?" Because it was my fate? I looked at her and saw tears spilling out of those green eyes of hers. Seemed like everyone was crying today. Me, that Sami girl, now her. I looked away before she started screaming out. "Why did it have to be you!?" I don't know, why did it have to be me? Why couldn't it have been someone else? She then kept on going how it was unfair that I had been chosen instead of any other person. But why did it have to be anyone anyway? It's unfair to anyone that's picked.

When her time was up, the peacekeeper had to drag her out because she refused to leave. But the peacekeeper finally managed to pry her, actually, more like beat her off me, before dragging her out of the room I was in. I didn't like his method of getting a girl to let go of me, but really, what could I do?

The next person to enter was Luke.

"I'm sorry about all this." Luke said looking at me and around the room. "I should have volunteered for you." No, you shouldn't have, you did the right thing by staying quiet. I wouldn't want you to be sent to your death. You're like a brother to me, and it would have pained me for you to lay down your life for me. "I'm just, sorry for not being for you there more."

I shook my head at him and smiled. You've done enough for me already Luke. You may be muscular, but could you fight like careers? I don't think so. Besides, you have to take care of Floopy. Jimmy can't do it himself, because Floopy's a very stubborn girl. Only Luke has the energy for her. "I mean, how will you survive?" I then covered his eyes with my hand, telling him that I'd hide from their sight. But Luke didn't get it and said that he wanted to see me. I removed my hands from his eyes.

Then he started trying to comfort me by patting my back and telling me it was going to be alright. That all I needed to do was kill the last tribute if I played my cards right. But I didn't even want to think about killing. I didn't tell him that though. When his time was up, he patted me on the back one last time before saying good luck and leaving, but not before I saw him holding back tears in his golden eyes. Those golden eyes that I feared were taking a toll on his life.

The next person to enter was my adopted father, Jimmy. He had taken me in because he was my family's friend, and that's what friends do I guess, take care of each other. I was grateful for everything he had done for me.

"Hi Bo." He said to me through his thick beard. I nodded to him, letting him know that I was saying hi back. He looked like he wanted to cry, but he was holding it in. "I'm sorry that this happened to you." I'm sorry that this happened to me too.

Jimmy sighed before saying. "You know Bo, ever since your family died of sickness and I took you in, you've become like a son to me." Like Luke? "Like Luke." Jimmy said like he was reading my mind. I smiled, happy with that thought. For someone almost sixty, he did a lot of work raising Luke, Floopy and I. "So it pains me to see you off." I pause came before he said yet again. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry." I whispered to him. His eyes then shot up like I had done something amazing. But then the peacekeeper told him to get out because they were on a tight schedule. I then saw tears flow from Jimmy's eyes, and that was the last thing I saw from him. "Sorry." I whispered again. I'm sorry.

**District Eight**

**Dav Ander's POV**

"I shouldn't have been reaped." I told Ronald. "I shouldn't have been reaped." Why couldn't have been someone else? It should have been someone lower than me, but no, it had to be me. Why? This wasn't right.

"But it happened." Ronald told me.

"I know that stupid," I spat at him. Thanks for stating the obvious. "Why do you think I'm here?"

"Well your aunt Mia is happy for you," He told me. "She thinks that this will make you into a man or something."

"Do I look like I care what Mia thinks?" I asked him. How could she think this was good for me? I was never supposed to be chosen, this shouldn't have happened.

"You could at least care a little," Ronald told me. "I mean, she did take you in when your parents divorced and neither wanted you."

"True." I told him. Aunt Mia did take me in when my loser parents didn't. And I was glad for that. Mom and dad were poor, so they could never get me what I wanted. Aunt Mia was rich, she could get me the stuff I wanted. "But fuck, what could possibly make me a better person in the games?" That's what I thought, what did Aunt Mia think would happen to me in there?

"I don't know Dav." Ronald told me not knowing the answer as well. "I don't know."

**December Juliet "Ember" Varen's POV**

Why did it have to be me? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Maybe this was what my ancestors up above cooked up for me. My father stole from a merchant, so maybe because of that shame, higher up powers wanted to pay him back. He was now a peacekeeper in District Three, he wouldn't even know about me going until it showed me on T.V. How would he act? How would he take it? I wouldn't know, because he could never see me again anyway. What was he thinking about? Was he wondering if I got reaped? Was he thinking about mom? Or was he thinking about pretty daughter June? I came out of my trance when Kastin came through the doors.

"Kastin!" I called to her waving my hands to her. Kastin saw me and ran up to me.

"How are you?" She asked shyly.

"Not good," I told her truthfully. "I'm about to be sent into the games, the thing I hate most in this world." Kastin looked down looking embarrassed that she even asked. Maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.

"I'm sorry." Kastin whispered.

"No, I'm sorry." I told her. "It's just, I'm going to go into the games and such."

"Yeah, sorry about that too." Kastin and I talked for a little while until her time was up.

Next came in Maura.

"Boy!" She shouted suddenly. "What bad luck to have been picked!"

"You're telling me." I sighed, why did it have to be me?

"Why do they even have the Hunger Games anyway?"

"Because they feel like it?" I told her, even though I didn't know the full answer. The Capitol said it was punishment for the first rebellion, but was that all it really was?

"Is that all?" She asked. I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know.

"Well, I hope you make it back here, we're going to miss you."

"I'll miss you all too." I told her. She then looked surprised before she held out her hand and I saw something black in it. I screamed loudly as I saw what it was. It was a spider! I fell down and backed away quickly. But all Maura was doing was laughing.

"What's so funny!?" I shouted in fright as I looked at the spider in her palm.

It's fake." Maura laughed as she dropped the black spider down, that's when I noticed it was plastic.

"That was a cheap trick!" I shouted to her, angry at her cheap trick. "You know I hate those things!" Why did she have to do that to me? She knows that they scare me to death!

"Well," Maura said with a smug smile while helping me to my feet. "I won't know when I'll see you again, so I've got to make the most of it." By the time she helped me up, her time was up and she had to leave.

"That was a cheap trick!" I shouted back to her as her and Jackson passed each other. Jackson looked at her before facing me.

"What was that all about?" He asked curiously.

"Fake spider." I told him, still kind of mad that Maura had scared me nearly half to death.

"I see." He replied.

"Why did she do that?" I asked. "She knows I'm deathly frightened by them.

"Well, you know her." Jackson told me. Yeah, I did, she was like that, not all the time, but still. Jackson and I talked until his time was up and he had to leave. But before that happened, he gave me the bracelet that we had made when we were twelve. We made it to give to the one that got reaped, if we got reaped. It had three charms on it. One was a small white and green china button with swirls and a small hole in it to fit a chain through it. That was made by Kastin. The second charm was a star painted with green and white strips. The third charm was simple, red metal star. It brought back memories of when we were twelve. When we were invincible from the reapings. When we were all alone, together. Now it was going to be all gone for me. Why? Why did this have to happen?

Then an unexpected sight occurred. I saw my sister, June. What was she doing here?

"What does little miss perfect want?" I asked her, not feeling the best of emotions towards her. But then I saw her start to sob. Why? Didn't she hate me? "Why are you crying?" I asked.

"Because I'm sorry, that's why." June told me still crying. She walked up to me and gave me a big hug. "I'm sorry that I treated you like shit." She said to me "I really do love you, even if I never really showed it."

"You never really showed it." I told her. After all, she was the one that mom and dad liked most. Because she was better looking and better at sports then me.

"I know." She whispered "I know, and I'm sorry." We then broke apart. I saw her eyeing something. I followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the bracelet. What did she want with it? I then saw her look at her right hand before lifting it up and pulling off a silver ring with an emerald on it. Something that mom had given her as a present. She pulled the ring off her pinkie finger, took hold of the bracelet, and put it on the bracelet chain. Why was she doing this? She never acted this way before. "Bring it back when you win." She told me looking at me square in the eyes.

"How?" I asked. "How can I win?" June shrugged.

"I don't know." She told me. And how could she, you'd never know what would happen in the games. "You're the smart one, I'm sure you can think of something."

**District Nine**

**Talliana Messine's POV**

I never thought that I'd be reaped. I never even gave a thought about it. I never signed up for tesserae or anything. Guess it was just bad luck that I got picked.

The first person to walk into the room was my mother. The person who works even when she isn't supposed to. She does her job as a homemaker, then helps out the district when she has free time, she was always busy. I don't know if it was because she was a person that wanted to help around, or because she wanted to make some extra money. Either way, it was her decision, and I didn't mind that she did what she liked doing.

She told me that she was saddened by me getting reaped, she said that I had a better chance of not getting reaped because I never signed up for tesserae. But luck wasn't on my side this year.

"It's not your fault mom," I told her while trying to get her to relax. "You did everything you could, things just, happened." She really did everything she could. Because of her and dad working, I never had to sign up for tesserae. Mom then asked about how she was going to live without me. Who was going to look after my seven year old brother and sister when her and dad were at work? And how was she going to live knowing that doing everything she could wasn't good enough? "Hey," I told me trying to cheer her up again. "Look at it this way, if I win, we'll never have to work again." That seemed cheer her up before her time was up. I couldn't stand to see her like that, I'm glad I made her feel better before she left.

The next person to come in was my dad. Being an owner of a small factory, he didn't have to work as much as mom, but he worked a lot to make sure that I never had to sign up for tesserae. To make sure that none of us in his family needed to sign up for tesserae. We talked for a bit until our time was up. My seven year old siblings came in next. If I won, Wynter and Fyntrain would never have to worry about signing up for tesserae, we'd live a life of luxury.

"Hey sis." Wynter said. "We've got something for you." She then presented me with a white plastic anklet.

"We made that for you." Fyntrain told me. I looked at the simple made anklet before looking to my siblings and smiled at them.

"Thanks." I told them before hugging both of them. It wasn't much, but they brought this for me, and I couldn't be happier with them. Then their time was up.

The next people to come in were my friends. One at a time, they told me that when I came back, they were going to hold a huge welcome back party for me. And it wasn't going to be a small party where we only hold once in a while, where five or ten of us have to chip in small amounts of money each for our little so called party, but a huge party. A real party.

I'd like that. I really would. If I could get through my worst nightmare first.

**Arrowe Winter's POV**

"Why'd you volunteer!?" My mom shouted both angrily and sadly to me. I could see that behind all that rage she was pushing towards me, was sadness. "Why'd you have to lay down your life!?" She continued to shout at me.

"Mom," I started explaining to her, trying to get her to calm down. "I thought this through, I know what I'm doing." I had a plan, a good one, one that was bound to work in one way or another. Well, maybe not. But it was a risk worth taking. High risk can equal high reward if played right, and I was going to play it right.

"You sent yourself into a death sentence!" Mom screamed to me. "I know you're a risk taker but this has gone too far!"

"No I haven't mom." I told her. "I'm not going to die. I've got a great plan and it's going to work." I wanted to explain my plan to her, but she cut me off by placing her hand over my mouth, silencing me.

"You just don't know when to quit don't you." My mom said quietly. "You think this will set a good example for your sister?" Fay. Sixteen year old Fay. She'd never do such a thing, volunteer. When mom removed her hand from my mouth, I told her

"She'd never volunteer, she knows better." Because no one but me is willing to do something as daring as this.

"What if your plan goes well and she thinks that she can do the same thing?" The shock then hit me. I never thought of that. That's when the peacekeeper told my mom that her time was up. But before she left, she told me not to end up like dad.

Dad, he liked taking risks too, but that's what lead to his downfall. To take a shortcut while walking in the mountains, he took a dangerous path, and got his food stuck between two rocks, and starved to death. It was days before anyone found him. Dad. I'm sorry to say this, but why did you have to be so stupid? You could have freed yourself, and yet, you didn't. I couldn't understand your decision to just hang there and starve to death.

The next person to come in was my older brother Transton. People say that we look a lot like each other. Maybe, I was around him so much that I didn't notice. But if there was one thing that I did notice, it was that he didn't have one black eye and one green eye. He only had bright green. Unlike me.

"What's up bro?" He asked. He tried not to sound worried, but he couldn't fool me. I knew what he sounded like when he was worried.

"Nothing much," I told him calmly, trying not to make him worry so much. "Just putting my genius plan into action." Transton looked curiously when he heard that.

"And what is your genius plan?" He asked wondering what my plan was. I was glad he asked, I didn't have a chance to tell mom why I volunteered, and I knew that Transton would understand.

I then told him my plan with great detail, telling him everything I wanted him to know. Mostly, only careers volunteer, and they're recognized throughout the Capitol. The same with some other volunteers, like in the seventy fourth Hunger Games, that Katniss girl. My plan was to volunteer and act confident, and that in turn would get people to recognize me, and in turn, that would gain me sponsors.

"Plus I like taking risks." I told him at the end.

"So I've noticed." He said while smiling. He then shook his head side to side while still smiling.

"You're one crazy bastard you know that?"

"So I've been told." I then saw him take off one of his earrings. A small golden hoop with a small onyx stone dangling from it. He unhooked it from his ear before passing it over to me.

"That's your token," He told me. "Remember us while you're drowning in sponsors." I don't know if he meant that literally, but when he said drowning, I couldn't keep the fear out from my mind. Drowning. "Oh hey hey hey." He said apologetically. "Sorry, I forgot that you fear, you know."

"It's okay," I told him. "You forgot."

"Time's up!" A voice shouted. That peacekeeper.

"Fay sends her love." Transton told me while leaving. "She said that she shouldn't say goodbye to you, because you're coming back." And while the door closed, I thought of Fay. She had so much confidence that I could win. Knowing that, I felt as if she had said it to me in person.

**District Ten**

**Max Starling's POV**

"Why did I have to be chosen?" I asked my dad who was standing in front of me in the justice building. "Why did I have to be chosen? I don't want to go into the games, it's scary. I'm only thirteen, I don't stand a chance against those eighteen year olds or the careers. I can't go against them, I'll die. Why me?"

"It just happened Max." My dad told me. "You got picked and that's how it is." Yeah, that's how it is, someone has to be picked every year. But why did this year's tribute have to be me?

"How can I go against those other tributes? That Life Lee doesn't look like much, but she's older than me, bigger than me, stronger than me most likely, in fact, I think all the other tributes are going to be older, and bigger, and stronger than I am. It's not fair, why couldn't an older kid have chosen instead? Why-"

"Be quiet Max! Stop crying!" My dad shouted at me. I was so surprised that I did stop. I looked at him as he shouted at me. "Complaining won't change anything! I don't want to hear another complain from your god damn mouth! God, if you mother heard you I don't know how she'd react." Mom, she died birth giving birth to me. Why did she have to go? It seemed that because of her death, my life wasn't as good as it should have been. I started to cry harder just thinking about her.

I've never seen her in person, only in pictures, how would I know how she'd feel? Dad took a long, hard sigh before talking to me again. "Look son," He started to tell me in a calmer voice. "I'm sorry for over reacting, but you just can't change stuff like this."

"Yeah," I said to him understanding. "I understand." Just like how I was here and mom wasn't, I couldn't change that. "It's just that, I don't want to go into the games. I'll be killed out there."

"Max, if there's one thing that you can do better then other kids, it's that you can go a long time without food."

"Yeah!" I shouted feeling instantly better. Now that I thought about it, if there's one thing that the careers can't do, its go hungry. If they go hungry, they get weak. "Yeah, I can out starve the others! And then when they're all weak and tired, I can easily kill them, and if I'm lucky, I won't even have to do that." I saw my dad smile at me

"That's what I want to hear, you in high spirits again." I then saw my dad reach into his coat pocket and pull out a small piece of tree bark. He handed it to me, and I took it. "When you're in the games, take out this piece of bark, and think of home, think of your mom."

"Yeah." I told him thinking about mom. "Mom wouldn't have wanted me to die. She gave me life, I can't shame her for that. Dad, I'll win, and I won't shame mom's death for giving birth to me. I won't waste her sacrifice." Then with as much confidence as I could build up, I told him "I will win, for mom."

**Life Lee's POV**

"Life!" I heard Laurel shout from the door way. I looked at her through the tears in my eyes. Every year on this day, she had to see kids get reaped. Now this year, it was me, and to make it worse, today was Laurel's birthday. It was like fate was playing a cruel trick on Laurel.

She ran up to me before grabbing me around my body, her head reaching a little below my chest. "Don't die!" She cried. "Please don't die!"

Dying, I've had enough death for a lifetime, and yet, fate just had plans in store for me. Just like they had plans for my whole family. First was my sister, Faerie. My sister who I'd play with, swinging her around me as I held onto her knees until we were both red faced and tan from the sun. But then one day, when we were playing, our horse, Den, took the life out of her. Old Den stomped on my sister, dislocating everything that was in her body. I remembered the sound of the hooves hitting her. Twenty four times he hit her, then on the twenty fifth, ended her life when he crushed her skull with a sickening wet crunch.

All that remained of her was a pile of red paste and broken bones.

"Why did it have to be you?!" Laurel cried out.

Yes, why did it have to be me today? And why did it have to be Papa that died earlier than he should of? The man that would let us ride on his back and play tag with my sister and I if he wasn't busy working. But then things took a turn for the worst, Papa died by getting shot. Twenty four times bullets entered his body, then the twenty fifth exited the back of his skull.

And for what? Grandma died around the same time as he did. But at least she died of natural causes. She had lived her life. But Grandpa was too full of sorrow to go without her, so he found a way to take the pain away. Somehow, he managed to get a supply of morphine, and started to feed on it. Papa and I found his body, yellow and pussing on his bed. Guess how many needles he used. Twenty five.

"How will I live without you!?" Laurel cried. I then wrapped my arms around her body as I thought of Mama.

I didn't like grandpa because he was a shady man. How else could he have gotten that morphine? But Mama tolerated him, so I tolerated him as well.

She loved all of us, and she didn't stop caring about us until the day she died. The doctors told us that she died of cancer, whatever that was. And when the doctors said that she only had a limited time to live, they sent her into isolation. Isolation without food. Then next time we saw her body, she was full of maggots and flies. They said it was from the cancer. But I knew that it was from starvation. And that forever left a hole in my heart that's never been filled. She was gone but not forgotten, that's why I wore the faded blue dress she made me, even though it is a bit too tight, and I also wore her old work boots and her old jacket. To remember her.

"You have to come back," Laurel cried. "Even if it's just for me, you have to come back." Laurel, the little girl I've taken care of, like a little sister. "Like all those stories you used to tell me, we could be like princesses and fall in love, and be happy. We could run away together. We can be happy, can't you see? We can be happy forever. Please, just come home." And there I stood, embracing Laurel. She just reminded me so much of my sister, Faerie. I then started to silently pray that I'd come back for her. Suddenly, she started praying as well. I hated that I couldn't think of anything to say, I only cried harder as I thought, why didn't I see that I was still loved all this time?

**District Eleven**

**Angel Hale's POV**

"Hide, that's what you can do." My two older sisters told me. They somehow managed to convince the peacekeeper to let them both in at once so that they could both say goodbye to me. At least they came to say goodbye, I knew that dad wouldn't want to say goodbye to me, even before they told me that he didn't care if I didn't make it back or not. I had expected that. But really, maybe it was better that he didn't come here.

"But I can't hide forever," I told them thinking of the sick traps that might be in the games. "If there's not enough fighting going on, they'd send something in or something."

"Well then move away when that happens."

"Nooo. Really?" I told them sarcastically. "I'm just going to stay there and wait to be mauled by mutts or burn to death by fire." Like I was stupid enough to stay in the place where the traps were being activated.

"Well, I'm sure you'll think of something, you're both brave and smart." I smiled at them, thinking about what they had said to me.

"That I am."

"Hey, do you still have-"

"This?" I said holding up the bracelet with mom's name engraved in it. I knew they were going to ask that.

"Yeah." They said looking at the bracelet.

"Don't worry," I told them. "I'll survive, mom's death won't be in vain." And then, their time was up.

I was going to win so that we could live, so we wouldn't have to relay on dad anymore. We could live without starvation. We could live without the abuse from dad. I could make everything better for us. I would make mom's spirit proud.

Next up was Katie, one of my best friends. We talked how we were going to miss each other and how life wouldn't be the same without each other. Time passed too quickly with her, and before I knew it, she was gone.

Then came Samantha, my other best friend. She told me she was going to miss me and I told her the same.

"What will you do for the games?" She asked. "You can't fight head on with the other tributes, especially the careers." Of course not, they'd kill me.

"I'm not going to fight them," I told her before explaining my plan to her. "I'm going to hide until there's only two of us left, then kill the last tribute when they least expect it." I knew that wasn't a very nice thing to say, but, when faced with either dying or returning home, the choice became easy.

"If it works that way." She told me. Yeah, the gamemakers will make that difficult. "So, you going to team up with Aerin? The same Aerin that's in our class."

I knew who Aerin was. I knew who he was the second his name was called. He was a great person who got my attention for what he did for people, us included. He was nice and caring, and I was certain that I could trust him.

"I think he'd make a great ally." I told my friend, but also thinking of something else as I thought of him joining me in an alliance. "But do you think he'd want to join me?" I really didn't want to get rejected by him.

**Aerin Sevani's POV**

With two parents, one older brother, one older sister, one younger brother, and two younger sisters, the justice building was a place of sadness. I was leaving, and they wouldn't know if I was coming back or not. But despite this sad moment, they gave lots of encouragement to me, they told me I was going to make it because I was strong and knew how to use some weapons expertly. I was glad that not everything they were saying was all doom and gloom, as there was enough of it already.

I told them I was going to make it, I was going to make it through for them. Because being poor in District Eleven with eight people in a family is hard to live on. With the winnings I'd get, we'd never go hungry again. We could afford enough food to never be hungry again, with some to spare. With the winnings, we could hire people to work on our farm, and pay them well, then at least they won't be hungry as well. Same with their families, and who knows, maybe that money will spread. Yeah, winning would increase the well being of not only my family, but other families as well. That was a thought to keep.

"You're coming back aren't you?" My six year old younger sister Cassie asked looking at me with sadness in her eyes. I didn't want to leave her, or anyone else. But I had to, having even one family member go was going to be hard on the family.

"Yes," I told her smiling down on her. "And when I do, we'll never be hungry, we'll be living the good life." Living in District Eleven is hard, even when you sign for tesserae, because sometimes, you don't even get it. And my older brother, he can't even sign up for tesserae anymore, making it even harder for us. He may be safe from the reapings, but that doesn't mean he's safe from starvation. But at least he's safe from the reapings. And since he's of age, he can work on better paying jobs. If you could even call them better paying jobs.

"The good life." Cassie repeated, while perhaps thinking of the good life. But then her time was up and she got escorted away from me. While she was walking away, I shouted that I'd do everything in my power to come back to her. I was going to come back, for her, for my parents, for my brothers and sisters too.

"Tell them I'll be coming back!" I shouted to her as the door closed behind her.

Next came one of my best friends, Ben. We talked about what was going to happen. He told that because I was strong, I was going to win. He also said that I wasn't as strong or skilled as a career, but I was better at starvation than them. Which was true, most of the times when the careers lost, it was because the cornucopia got destroyed or something killed their food supply. Maybe being from here would give me a huge advantage against the careers.

Next up came Thorn, my other best friend, who nearly arrived too late while wheezing heavily due to the incident during the reapings.

We talked, much like I did before with Ben, we talked about what was going to happen. But not about the games, about the district. What was going to happen to my family and such? I told him that I was going to win for them. The headband around my head that was made out of brown cloth, while being stained with blood and memories, was going to remind me that I needed to win for them, so that they could live the good life that they always wanted.

The good life everyone desired.

"You know that this isn't fair, right?" Thorn said to me with so much seriousness I wondered if he was angry or just stating his mind. "You were not supposed to be reaped."

"They made a mistake." I told him, thinking of how my family and I thought that we were safe from the reapings this year. But the district made a mistake, and considering how huge this district was, it wasn't too surprising. Still, this was the first time anyone seemed to of seen something like this occur. "And there's nothing I can do about it now."

**District Twelve**

**Evanlyn "Eve" Scott's POV**

"They don't want to say goodbye to you," My older brother, Hale, told me as sat down beside me. What? They don't want to say goodbye to me? Well that was a kick to the face. "Because they believe that saying goodbye isn't necessary, because you'll make it back." Suddenly, all my pain and sadness disappeared as it got replaced by relief. They did care about me. And did they really think that about me? Sure I could do things, but did they really think that I could make it out of the games?

"Did they really say that?" I asked wondering if they really said that.

"Yep." My older brother told me. "They think you're invincible. Our younger brothers and sisters at least. I mean, because of what you do, and you do get away with it." He was talking about me stealing.

I stole things from peacekeepers and the mayor, then sold them to people at the black market. If you could even call it a black market. Basically it was just a small gathering of other people in the district doing illegal things, and people willing to pay for their goods. I heard that around sixty-five years ago, it was easier to do illegal trading, 'till the districts rebelled. Now it was just a pitiful gathering in the ruins of the firebombing. Nobody bothered to try and repair the site of the previous black market, or what used to be called the hob. I didn't blame them, if they made another market as big as that, the peacekeepers would be on it in no time. And the only thing that would be accomplished was another pile of rubble.

"Only because I don't get caught." I told him. Speaking only the truth. "They should know that." If I were to ever get caught, I would get whipped until they could see my spine. Either that or killed. And I couldn't afford either of those, I had a family to take care of. Three younger siblings. And Matthew, my twin brother.

Then there was Hale, my older brother, who was safe from the reapings but still wasn't safe from everything else that happened in the district. Who got crippled from the accident that killed mom and dad.

"That's why they think you're invincible." He told me. "Because you never get caught." He then gave a little laugh that was more of a happy, not so serious laugh rather than a real laugh. "And because of that time with Tara."

Tara. I took a knife wound to the shoulder for her. Some jerk thought that she had stolen food from her. She got so mad that she pulled out a knife and was about to slash her across the neck, but I jumped in the way and took the slash to the left shoulder, leaving a scar that never healed. It was painful and still itched from time to time, but worth it. My sister hadn't gotten killed, but at the time, I wasn't sure I'd be able to say the same.

It was a good thing that a group of peacekeepers saw what had happened, otherwise who knows how it would have turned out. The merchant got whipped for assaulting me, after that, she left us alone.

"Let's hope I'm invincible enough to make it back eh."

"Yeah." Hale said sighing with worry. "Do you have a token?" He asked.

"Yeah." I told him before showing him my ankle bracelet with a red feather cut down in size for it to fit comfortably on my ankle. "To remind me of you guys." It wasn't much, but it was my token, and I will remember them with this anklet.

Silence then fell over us for a couple of seconds before I told him. "I won't lose, I can't afford to." Then at that moment, his time was up. Hale then had to struggle out of the building with the crudely made crutches, leaving me alone with only my thoughts. I can't lose I repeated to myself. I just can't. Not with my family at stake.

**Colin Aldrin's POV**

So I got reaped and nobody volunteered for me, so what. I was going to win the Hunger Games because I was smarter than everyone else. I was able to see things that nobody else could see and think of things that nobody else could think of, because they were all stupider than I was.

Those that lost were idiots that didn't know anything, but I wasn't an idiot, so I wasn't going to lose. I'd get a bunch of sponsors and easily slide through the games and return home before I knew it.

**A/N: You know what's kind of hard? Having material already here and written. It makes editing a little harder just knowing that everything is just... There. But then again, all I really wanted was mostly minor edits until the bloodbath.**

**I will never give Colin a proper goodbye :( Damn it Ricky, I'll never be able to give you one either :(**


	4. Train rides part 1

**"Never before had I imagined leaving home, but that wasn't because of lack of desire, only lack of possibility." -Melanie Benjamin**

**District Three's Nessa Christine Johnston's POV**

Here I stood in this train, which was absolutely breathtaking as it was the most beautifully designed place I had ever encountered. It was even better than the inside of the justice building, and that was really saying something, because as of not too long ago, the inside of the justice building was the best looking thing I had ever been inside.

With the silver coloured walls, the clear glass tables with glossy gold frames and spotless glass windows that gave the perfect view to the outside world, it was nothing short of a wonderful sight.

And to make things even better, the gold framed table was covered with food and drinks that I had never seen before, let alone heard of.

As soon as I saw the food in front of me, I felt my stomach growl while my mouth watered as my mind thought of how delicious those things in front of me must be before I started to reach for the piles of food in front of me and started to eat it without a second thought. And god was it unbelievably good. The sauce, the richness, the flavour, the mere fact that it was food in my mouth, it was so good. So good that I wanted to just reach out and eat with my hands instead of eating it slowly with a fork and knife. But my parents had taught me to have manners, and I was going to keep it that way. I didn't want the Capitol to think that I was a slob. That could hurt my chances at sponsors, even if manners were the least of my problems when in the arena.

I may have been slowed down by the silverware, but even so, I still occasionally chocked on some food and had to either hack it out of my throat or swallow it down with my saliva or with a drink of some kind. I choose to stick with water, as I didn't really know what else to ask for. And even though I had just chocked on food, I resumed eating as soon as I felt no pain anymore. The food was that good and I was that hungry.

Also added with the fact that I had a lot of pent up energy inside of me that I was just dying to release.

I didn't like standing still, so this was doubling as a way for me to remain seated and keep me from running up and down the train.

"I'm glad that you at least have some decency," My half green, half red haired escort told me before looking towards the most feared creature in District Three, surrounded by five active peacekeepers in white body armour.

Their armour wasn't the thickest, or the strongest that I had ever seen, but it offered more protection than your average uniform. And I knew that they weren't wearing it to just be intimidating or looking tough. Knowing the creature in front of me, I knew that they'd need that protection, even if he is being restrained by a tight jacket with thick, sturdy belts that tied is arms together along with the thick blindfold that prevented him from seeing what was in front of him and the thick metal mask in front of his mouth. "Unlike someone here."

I didn't look, but I could still hear Tharizdun, or as he was better known as, the collector, trying to noisily eat the food in front of him by forcefully shoving it through his metal face mask due to his restraints. I didn't know if he was actually succeeding or not, but from the way he was sounding, it could be either one of them.

Beating his face against the table, it might have been funny, if it weren't him that was doing it.

That person was responsible for a confirmed count of killing twenty seven girls in the district, and that enough would have made people scared of him as he managed to get away with that many murders right under their noses. But that wasn't the worst of it. What was worse about those murders was that he wouldn't just kill them. From what I heard, he'd kidnap them, rape them, choose a body part and rip if off of his victim while keeping it for himself, then finally, he'd rip out their throat and let them bleed to death.

The only reason he was caught was because his last victim, would be victim twenty eight, escaped from his hide out, got out, and told the peacekeepers what had been happening. He was then hunted down by them before being thrown into solitary confinement.

I don't understand why they didn't kill him, that would have made things a whole lot easier. Because if he had been killed, like other murderers were, he wouldn't be in front of me now, slamming his face into the table and scaring me with his mere presents. If he were dead, that would also mean that I wouldn't be going into the games with him. And that, scared me even more then the games itself, as it only made it worse.

I was a girl, he targeted girls. I was twelve, his victims were between the ages of twelve and fifteen. If I get unlucky, he could do the very same thing to me as he had done to those other girls. I could be victim number twenty eight.

But that wouldn't happen to me. No. It wasn't going to happen to me because I was going to stay as far away from him as possible in the arena. And in the arena, they don't like psychotic, mentally challenged rapists like him. The Capitol would kill him before he even got a chance to hurt me. I'd be fine if I survive the bloodbath, because he wouldn't be here anymore. And if he didn't die in the bloodbath, he'd die as soon as he even thought of raping someone.

And he was always surrounded by five peacekeepers wherever he went, he couldn't hurt me with all of them around even if he wanted to.

It made me feel better and more confident that I was going to return home as I thought of the collector dying by the hands of the Capitol.

"Who's that?" I heard him ask through his metal mask, making his thick, deep, and rough voice sound even more evil than it already was. "I don't think I've ever heard that voice before."

"That's your escort." A young peacekeeper, probably twenty of age, told him in a not so nice manner. Somehow, I didn't think that they'll ever be nice to him. And why would they? He had made their lives a living hell trying to find him. And I bet they felt like the majority of the district as well, they wanted to get rid of him, but something was keeping them from doing just that. "Now shut up and keep quiet."

"Can I see her?" The collector asked. "I want to see her. I want to see her. I want to see her. I want to see her." Why did he have to repeat words like that? Was it because he wasn't totally sane, or did he have brain damage? Both?

"No you may fucking not." The young peacekeeper replied back harshly, causing our escort to give him a dirty look.

"Language." She told him in an equally harsh tone.

"And what part of shut up and keep quiet did you not understand." He continued, like he hadn't heard what the Capitol woman had just said.

Through the voices of them talking, I was glad that the blindfold wasn't going to be removed, I didn't want him to see me.

"Well then," The collector said, not listening very well to the peacekeeper's orders. "Can you at least remove this annoying muzzle of yours so that I can eat?"

From the way he talked, I could tell that he was smiling. But why would he be smiling? There was nothing to smile about. Was there? Was there something that I couldn't see?

"What part of shut the fuck up," The peacekeeper growled angrily as Starbright continued to glare at him.

"Did you not hear me wh-"

"Don't you understand!" He shouted, interrupting our escort's speech before I heard something slam against the table as something broke. Most likely a dish or something of the like. It was so sudden that it scared me, causing me to jump in my seat and shriek.

I looked up to see that the young peacekeeper had smashed Tharizdun's head into the table, destroying a plate of food before two older peacekeepers pulled him off his victim. Bits of food fell from the collector's face like peeling skin.

"Hey!" One of the older peacekeepers shouted at his younger companion. "Calm down, Marco!"

"Screw you, Lawrence! You know that guy deserved it."

"We have our orders from the Capitol," The elder said to the youngster. "No force unless it's necessary."

"It was necessary."

"No it damn well wasn't!"

"Language again!" The escort shouted bitterly at the fighting peacekeepers. "I don't want to hear those filthy, uncivilized words come out your mouths for the rest of the trip!"

"Oh piss off lady," The young peacekeeper, Marco, retorted to Starbright, not looking the least bit happy. He didn't even seem to care what she wanted.

"Shut up god damn it." The older peacekeeper, Lawrence, growled at him, trying to better the situation before it got worse.

"Both of you should just shut up and do your jobs in silence." Starbright told them harshly. "The Capitol might not be too happy with your performance if I told them how you acted like a pack of wild animals." She clearly threatened. It was enough for the peacekeepers to at least not fight anymore as their bodies calmed down, but not their attitudes.

"You got lucky, Zap." Marco quickly added.

Before Tharizdun swiftly stood from his chair and turned to the five peacekeepers.

"My name is Tharizdun you dumb ass!" He raged.

Marco backed away a step, but quickly regained his confidence in time to join his allies shove down the collector.

The collector, he easily towered all of them and looked at least as strong, if not, stronger than the most muscular peacekeeper in the group. All of that just made him look scarier than he already was. A terrifying figure to go with his terrifying reputation and deeds.

Why did I have to be with him? Of all the people, why did I have to be reaped with him? At least the peacekeepers could keep in him place until the gamemakers got rid of him.

"Sit your ass back down!" An older peacekeeper ordered before all five peacekeepers forcefully shoved him back down into his seat, an action that required a strike to the back of his knee. I continued to eat in an attempt to stop my hands from shacking.

Being hyper and scared wasn't a good combination as I wanted to do nothing more than to jump from my seat and run away as fast as I possibly could. But at least I wasn't the collector right now. Heh, at least I could eat and not be pushed around, unlike him. I was in a good spot right now. Unlike him.

"Do any of you want to see the reapings?" A male voice called out, just in time to interrupt Starbright from saying anything. Most likely it was to point out that the eldest peacekeeper was using inappropriate language again.

I'm guessing that it was an attempt to defuse the situation before it got anymore out of hand. It's a good thing he was trying to do that, because it could have escalated into the escort doing something to those peacekeepers, causing Tharizdun to be left unguarded, which wouldn't be anything less then a disaster. "Because I certainly do. I wonder what kind of tributes you're both going to be meeting."

And before anyone could answer, Ampf Tressel, our twenty six year old male mentor and winner of the one hundred and thirtieth Hunger Games, turned on the T.V set and guided us to the re-cap of the reapings. "Everyone turn your attention to the screen, the District One reaping re-caps are almost starting."

I turned to the T.V screen to see that District One text appear over the Panem seal. I wondered what kind of tributes would be shown. What kind of tributes I'd have to go against to make it out alive.

I wouldn't doubt that I was the youngest one in the games.

"You know," Our escort spoke out. "It's unfair for him to be blindfolded while we watch the re-cap of the reapings."

Oh no, I thought as I listened to those words coming out of her mouth. "Remove the blind fold of that man." All that would do would make thing worse. Removing his blindfold was a very, very bad idea.

"No." Marco told her bitterly. "We're not removing the blindfold."

Our escort glared angrily at the young peacekeeper.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" She asked harshly. "I told you to remove that blind fold."

"And I told you no you crazy bitch," Marco replied back in an equally harsh tone. "Do you have any idea-"

"Shut up kid." Lawrence snarled. I prayed that she was just listen to that young peacekeeper and have a rational thought. There was a reason why he was dressed up like that. There was a reason he was being escorted by armed peacekeepers. There was a reason that you were scared of him during the reapings. Please, just please, listen to your common sense.

"Kid," Starbright said to him. "Do you have any idea what happens to people that make the Capitol angry?" The room suddenly became eerily silent. The tension became high enough that I could feel it, and I wasn't even part of the conversation. "So," Starbright said with a superior tone, as she, and everyone else, couldn't deny that she was the one that was really in charge. "You want to take that blind fold off now."

"Just do it, Marco." A third peacekeeper said. "Do as she says."

"It's not worth fighting her for." A fourth peacekeeper added.

I then heard someone, probably Marco, sigh heavily, angrily, annoyed. It was the sigh of someone that was both defeated and doing something they'd rather not, before I heard the sound of fabric being pulled down.

"So this is where I've been this entire time." I heard Tharizdun say roughly.

I didn't look at him. I didn't want to look at him. I kept my gaze at the T.V set, but I could feel his eyes looking at me, and it creped me out. "Hi there girl," He said to me, causing the hair on my skin to rise up as fear ran deep. "We're going to have a lot of fun, the two of us."

"No you won't." Marco told him as loud cheering occurred from the T.V.

At least with the peacekeepers around, I was safe from him.

I turned my attention to the T.V and took some quick mental notes on the tributes we were going to face.

In District One, there were two volunteers, a tall, muscular boy wearing a jewel encrusted suit and a beautiful blond haired girl. The boy looked strong, but the girl didn't, though she did look like she was well feed. Something that would aid her heavily along with being a career.

In District Two, brutal fighting erupted for the volunteers. I was shocked when I saw the District Two tribute, a small girl that looked my age. She had volunteered. Most twelve year olds try to stay away from the games, but she leapt right in. Why would she do that? She was like me in age and size. This, Howl Draconix, what was going through her mind? The male tribute looked more career like than her with a muscular look.

Then came our reapings. Me trying to cover up my sadness, but it quickly falling apart as I reached the stage. Then came the collector whose anger could be seen clearly. His name called, him claiming that it wasn't his real name, him getting jumped on by peacekeepers and audience members alike, cheering from the audience, fear from those on stage. The fear that was on my face intensified as I realized who I was going into the games with.

Then came District Four. It had one reaped girl and one volunteer. The reaped girl was like me, she tried to cover up her feelings, but failed.

In District Five, there was a girl who acted like a spoiled brat and a boy who was hated throughout his district. Guessing from his red eyes and white hair, I'd guess he was an Albino, someone with a mutation.

It all flew by until I reached District Seven, when our escort said that District Seven had a couple of cry babies reaped. I then saw that the boy and girl were crying on stage. How much I wanted to do that on stage. I didn't though, and I appeared to be stronger than those two. Something that wouldn't go unnoticed.

I tuned out, distracted by the eyes that were looking at me, until someone called out I volunteer. I turned back to reality because I was interested. We were passed the career districts, who'd volunteer? The boy confidently announced his name, Arrowe Winter. What was he thinking? Did he have a death wish or what?

In District Ten, there was a thirteen year old boy who cried and said that he didn't want to go while the girl vomited on stage. Our escort made rude comments on the tributes before it moved on to District Eleven, which I turned out of. I didn't get back into it until I heard people ohhing, yelling, and cheering? I then saw that the District Twelve escort had gotten hit in the face with a hard object and her nose was bleeding.

The tributes that got called by the bleeding escort was a pale, malnourished girl with blond hair that somehow managed to remain pretty. The boy was the opposite of her. He had a rounded figure and looked like he had trouble just getting onto the stage.

"So," Our escort asked looking at me. "What do you think?"

"Some of them are, interesting." I told her. And it was true, some of them were interesting. But the ones that stood out to me were the District Two girl, the collector, the District Seven tributes, the District Nine male, and the thirteen year old boy from Ten. The girl from Two because she was my age, the boy from Ten because he was young, the District Seven tributes because they cried, the girl from Ten because she cried and puked, the District Nine boy because he was a volunteer, and the collector for obvious reasons.

"What do you think?" The escort asked the collector.

"I think there are some lovely girls in there." He laughed. Reminding me once again why I should fear him. "I want them, I want them, I want them." I had a bad feeling about this.

**District One's Griffin Holloway's POV**

"What tributes should we get for our alliance?" My district partner asked me. What a stupid question to ask, she should know how this works.

"The usual." I told her. That meant the tributes from our district plus Two and Four. That's how it usually is, although some of them do go astray, and sometimes tributes from other districts join if they prove themselves worthy enough.

"Yeah, I knew that," Lynsa said, like I didn't know better, which annoyed me. If she had any brains inside that head of her's she wouldn't have asked me that question and should have known what my answer was. "I meant anyone besides our normal career buddies."

Hmmm, that was a thought. A question that was actually useful.

There was that guy from Three.

Apparently he was so dangerous, that they had to place him in a straightjacket, blind fold him, and place a face muzzle on him. He could be useful, even if he was simply dumb muscle.

On the other hand, I wasn't sure about the girl from Two and the girl from Four. Two was only twelve, and Four was reaped. We couldn't have anyone slow us down and be a burden, it would only come and bite us in the ass later. And then there was the District Nine volunteer. He might have something up his sleeve that could prove useful, after all, he did volunteer.

The rest of the non-careers looked like losers, just like they were just about every year.

"District Three and District Nine." I told her. They might be of use to us. "The males."

"I don't know about Three," She said worryingly. "It took over five peacekeepers to put him down, and he doesn't look like the most sane person, do you really think that's a good idea?"

I gave a quick exhale of breath, questioning how she could think that it wasn't a good idea. If in fact it did turn out to be a bad idea, we could easily just stab him in the back. Those peacekeepers didn't have lethal weapons, so they couldn't really kill him, even if they wanted to. But in the arena, we could put him down permanently if he became a problem. Simple.

Nothing solved a problem in the arena better than decapitating said problem. That, and a well placed plan. Both of which I'd accomplish when the time came.

"He's useful." I told her.

"Yeah. In the mean time, we'll check out the District Nine boy, we'll see how he is in training, and then we'll make our decision."

My thoughts exactly. I nodded my head to show her that. "I'm also thinking of the District Eleven male, he looks strong enough to handle himself."

Strength. That kid did look like he had strength behind him, but strength isn't everything. To survive in the games, you had to have a plan to back it up as well. That was what made my older brother, Dragon, die. He thought that he could win with skill alone. I wasn't going to make that mistake. I was going to plan this all out from moment we made our alliance. I'd see their strengths and weaknesses, see who'd be the biggest threat and who'd be the smallest threat. Then in the arena, I'd form a plan using the environment. With both my skills and my plans, I'd be more then a match for any tribute in the arena.

The only reason Arrowe Winter was being considered coming into the alliance along with the District Three male was because he didn't seem to be volunteering for no reason. He had been willing to go into the games by himself, and nobody stupid would have done that. He had a plan, and that meant that he wasn't some brainless brute.

"Try to check out the other tributes as well," Our female mentor, Aphrodite Amari, told us. "Some of them might be hiding something. Those District Sevens may seem like cry babies now, but what if they're hiding behind fake emotions? District Seven does have almost career like tributes."

Those two criers, career like? Don't make me laugh. But she had a point, they might be hiding behind fake emotions to draw in sympathetic sponsors. Or they might just want to be left alone until there are only a few of us left then kill us all. Tributes have done that before. And District Seven did have skilled tributes from time to time, but those two babies were nothing like them. They didn't have the looks to be a killer. They didn't have that feel, that aura around them. I wouldn't be surprised to see them dead after the bloodbath was over.

"I don't know Aphrodite," Lynsa sighed. "They might be, but, let's further this conversation when we meet Two and Four in the training center. Then we can see what the other tributes are capable of."

"Lets." I told her while grabbing a bottle of clear fizzy liquid. In the training center, we'd see how well the other tributes perform, and then we'd make our pack from there.

**A/N: A little change on Nessa's part.**

**I should spend more time editing, I want to get to the bloodbath by early December. Wither or not that'll happen, we'll see.**

**If I learn how to create a website for this story, well, be prepared to see pictures of the tributes some time after the next chapter is posted. And this time, the pictures hopefully won't get deleted.**


	5. Train rides part 2

**"Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth." -Anonymous**

**District Nine's Talliana's Messine's POV**

Uuugggghhhhh.

Head, hurts. Stomach, burning. Mouth, tastes funny.

I just woke up and this is how I'm feeling? This day wasn't off to a good start, but it was to be expected by the activities that I participated in last night. I guess it can't get any worse than this. Thinking back on the rare parties that my friends and I created back home, I knew that this wasn't the worst hangover I ever felt, but it was the most unique. It was unique because my stomach didn't feel empty and burn at the same time, my stomach felt normal, like there was something still inside of it while having a burning sensation inside.

What happened last night? I remember enjoying myself on the Capitol food and even enjoying the spirits that were much smoother and flavourful than the homemade ones back in District Nine. It was great, but the farther I tried to remember, the more it was just a blank piece of memory. A black out. I couldn't remember anything past a certain point.

I had probably consumed too much alcohol and blacked out. Now I'm stuck with this pulsing headache and raging glow in my stomach. Ah well, could be worse, at least my stomach didn't feel hollow and on fire.

I tossed the soft and comfortable bed sheets that I knew weren't my own. It was too soft and too comfortable to be District Nine sheets. I didn't miss the sheets of my home district, but these sheets were such a contrast to the itchy and stiff sheets that I was used to. It was strange, but these Capitol blankets felt almost uncomfortable.

I was still fully dressed in simple clothing that was provided to me from the Capitol. I was glad for that as I would have killed myself if I had ruined my great great grandma's dress if I had been still wearing it.

I turned my head around, trying to ignore that the lights were shinning brighter than normal, almost painfully, and looked around the room to see if I could see my reaping dress anywhere. I quickly found it hanging in a closet close to me in the shape and condition that I had last seen it in. I gave a sigh of relief as it wasn't ruined by whatever had happened last night.

I would have never forgiven myself if I let anything happen to that dress. It had been in the family for such a long time, and if it were to be ruined, I wouldn't want to be the one that had done it.

I forced myself to get off the bed and stand up, causing me to feel a little faint and dizzy. I feel a little bit better, but it's still a nuisance. I rubbed my face before I make my way from my bedroom car to the main car, where almost everything on this train took place. Where Arrowe and I, as tributes, would spend the majority of our time on this train.

Passing the adjoining hallways with little thought, wondering how the heck I managed to make it this far if I had consumed as much as I thought I did.

A thought came by me as I neared the main car. If I felt this bad, how was my district partner feeling? Surly I couldn't be the only one feeling this way.

I opened up the door and got my answer. He was sitting on the couch and talking to our escort and mentors, perfectly fine, like he wasn't experiencing the wicked symptoms that I was feeling. What did he do last night?

Before I knew it, the talking in the room came to a sudden halt, and I wished that I came in quieter. Just snuck into this room without drawing attention to myself.

I continued to stare into the room as four pairs of eyes continued to stare at me. I was unsure of what to do.

"Good morning." Our escort, Sandy Villas said, breaking the silence with her high pitched voice that sounded like a knife in my skull. I winced and turned my head away from her slightly, I didn't want to be rude to her and say that her voice was annoying me due to a hangover. I didn't know if she'd take it badly or not. "How are you feeling?" She asked, driving the pain even deeper.

"I'm not feeling too well." I told her truthfully. "My head's throbbing, I'm feeling a little dizzy, I'm stomach's burning and I'm thirsty." I left out that her voice was like nails digging into my head, and hoped that she'd have something that would make me feel better.

"And you stink as well." I heard my district partner, Arrowe Winter, exclaim playfully as I saw him wave his right hand in front of his face. His voice wasn't terribly painful, so I guessed that it was only loud and high pitched noises that were affecting me right now. That, and the darn lights that seemed brighter than normal and gave off a little glare. "You should really hit the showers before you go into the Capitol and scare away everyone."

I looked up and down Arrowe's body and saw that he was still in the same ratty clothes that he had been reaped in. It made me look down at the clothes that I was wearing, and saw that they were stained with food and liquid markings. At least, I think they were all food and liquid stains.

I looked back up at Arrowe before I started to speak.

"Well you don't exactly smell like a rose yourself." I kidded with him.

"I'm the smell of District Nine." He loudly sighed, like he was in love with his own scent. "If the Capitol doesn't like that, then they can all be impressed with you smelling like puke after they witness how much alcohol and food you can consume."

With him saying that, I remembered some of what went on last night. I ate and drank like there was no tomorrow, and I certainly almost felt like that was the case. And with everything that I wanted right in front of me, ripe for the taking, how could I refuse? Free food, free drinks, as much as I could eat without rationing. I simply couldn't.

I smiled as I thought of all that heavenly delight.

"It was so totally worth it." I sighed as I fell on soft leather couch Arrowe was sitting on.

I looked out the window in front of me, and found that the sun was already up in the sky. I still felt tired, even though it was probably closer to noon than morning.

But it had been worth it. It was better than any party that my friends and I could have ever put on back home. The wonderfully flavoured food, the bottles of alcohol, the fun Arrowe and I probably had, it was like a miniature party. But it was still a better one than what might of been put on if I was back home, celebrating another year that my friends and I hadn't gotten reaped.

Getting reaped.

I felt myself go from joyful to sorrowful I remembered that I was getting this treatment because I had been reaped. I never really thought that I'd get reaped, but now here I was, on a train that was heading right for the Capitol.

I looked at the shiny table in front of me and saw at least a dozen or so plates of food. Left overs. I could see feeding entire families with this amount of food, and yet, they were pulling no expense for us. Because they wanted us feed and as healthy as they could get us so that we could put on a good show for them.

I wanted to send all this food back home for my family consisting of my mom and dad and two, seven year old siblings, but I knew that the Capitol wouldn't allow that. They weren't part of this event until the final eight interviews, and even then I wouldn't be able to do anything for them. Not unless I won. But, there was a good chance that I wasn't coming back.

When Sandy asked if there were going to be any volunteers, I told her that there were going to be no volunteers, because I knew that nobody was going to volunteer for me. I mean, I love my friends, and they love me, but love only goes so far when it's your life on the line. Were you willing to sacrifice your life so that someone else could live?

Arrowe did, but I had a feeling that his main objective wasn't to save that kid's life.

I didn't know Arrowe that well. In fact, I hardly knew him at all. But I'm guessing that his family is so poor, he took a chance and volunteered so that his family could live better. Or maybe he really did care for that kid. I don't know, and I haven't asked.

I never thought of the games too much, but I still had to wonder if anyone was really that desperate to go into the games. I mean, there are the careers, but that was different. They lived to go into the games, I don't think Arrowe's dream was to fight in the arena. The careers were trained, Arrowe wasn't. And neither was I.

Just what was going through my district partner's head when he volunteered? "What do we have to drink?" I asked, looking at all the food that was in front of me while thinking about my thirst in an attempt to stop me from thinking about the games.

"Well I know what you're not getting," Arrowe said to me. "Anything with alcohol. You were pucking your guts out and acting funny because of it."

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking of how I might of said or did some stupid things while intoxicated. Hopefully it wasn't anything too embarrassing. It was mostly okay when I was around friends, but with strangers around, I just didn't know if I wanted them to know secrets or not. "I'll just stick with water for now." I wasn't in the mood for alcohol anyway. "Or juice. Juice is good as well."

"I'll order it up." Sandy told us before she walked over to a speaker thing and spoke her order into it. Then within thirty seconds, tall glasses filled with bright orange liquid appeared. I wondered how they could get their stuff so fast. Yesterday, it only took about a minute and a half for her to get a huge plate of food to appear in front of her.

While I wondered just how food managed to get here so fast, there were other questions that my mind wanted answered.

"So you think that the food and alcohol made me this sick?" I asked as Sandy placed my glass of juice in front of me.

"We know that the food and alcohol made you sick." Our male mentor answered. "This isn't District Nine food, it's rich and flavourful Capitol food. Something that your stomachs aren't used to. And the alcohol didn't do you any favours either."

"I think we have to ban tributes from consuming spirits." Our female mentor commented. "Otherwise they'll end up like Talliana here. In horrible shape with smelly clothes and bad breath."

If my breath was smelt half as bad as it tasted, then yes, it was bad.

I sipped at my juice, it was sweet and tasted of tangy fruit, as I looked at Arrowe.

"How are you perfectly fine?" I asked, seeing that he wasn't moaning or groaning like I was.

"I'm not." He bluntly answered, smiling as if he was joking. I had to wonder if he was joking.

"Arrowe here ate too much Capitol food before spilling it out." Our female mentor told me with a smile, assuring me that Arrowe was telling the truth. "He had a stomach ache for several hours before that. And when he finally recovered, he tried to eat again without getting sick. He failed."

"And here we are." Arrowe laughed, patting his stomach lightly.

"So you're aching as well?" I asked.

"A little." He shrugged before grabbing a crispy roll of food. "What do you think these are?" He asked, examining the piece of food.

I shrugged, not knowing the answer.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I told him as I sipped at my drink. There was so many different kinds of food in front of us, nearly everything I didn't even know what they were except for the simple foods such as rice and bread. Trademark foods of District Nine since we gave away grains that included rice, rye, and barley.

In front of me was food that I could only dream about eating in the district. "Are you sure you want to do that? After all, you are feeling sick and the food was the cause of it."

"Eugh," Arrowe shrugged, clearly not even caring what it was anymore. Not that I blamed him, it was Capitol food, and whatever it was, it was going to be good. "Whatever. It's Capitol food." He said before he took a big bite out of the crunchy roll.

I started to sip on my drink, tasting a sweet flavour in the liquid, before hearing Arrowe exhaling heavily. Not in pain, but something closer to uncomfortable. I looked towards him and saw him huffing in air like his life depended on it.

"What is this!?" He shouted in both confusion and pain while pointing to the roll he had bitten into.

Now I was wondering the same thing, and mentally told myself not to bite into one of them.

"Spicy spring rolls." Our escort answered before drinking out of her bottle, like nothing serious was happening. In fact, I thought I saw her smirking.

I then saw Arrowe hold out his left hand towards me with an expression on his face that cried out 'please.'

"That bottle of whatever, can I have some?" He asked desperately. I was about to point out that he had a drink of his own when I heard our escort say to us.

"I wouldn't drink anything if I were you, if you drink something Arrowe, it will only get spicier." I quickly pull the glass back before Arrowe could grab it. I didn't know if what she was saying was true, but if it was, then I didn't want to make it any worse for him.

"Well how to I get rid of this pain then?" Arrowe asked desperate for an answer. His face turning slightly red from what I guessed was the heat inside his mouth.

"You don't." Our escort answered with a laugh.

"Wow," Our male mentor spoke up while laughing a bit as well. "That's some touch luck son." I couldn't help but laugh a bit as well. These were interesting people.

"Oh ha ha." Arrowe laughed sarcastically before grabbing a glass of water in front of him and drank deeply. When he was done, he let out a satisfying exhale of air. For a moment there, he looked fine and I started to relax. If some liquid could cure his trouble, then I might want to try some as well. But then he started to inhale air deeply again. The pain was back.

"I told you." Our escort said looking displeased. Well, she was telling the truth, and I thought it was just to make Arrowe suffer.

"Just wait for a bit," Our female mentor told him taking one of his spicy spring roll things and taking a bite out of it. It was having no effect on her for some reason. "It will go away eventually."

"Nah," Arrowe said smiling. "I can take it." And with that, he seemed to calm down a little.

Well, that was interesting. These seemed like fun people. People that I wouldn't mind hanging out with for a bit.

"Oh hey, look at that, we're almost to the Capitol." Our male escort announced.

"What?" I asked, wondering how she could know that. "How can you tell?" I then saw him lift a finger up and point to somewhere behind me. I turned around and saw through the window, a beautiful city beyond anything I'd ever imagined before. Everything was so shiny, clean, and wonderful. I was truly amazed by the Capitol. I looked though the city looking at their shops and the people and their bizarre fashion. I was no really excited to go and see what else the Capitol had to offer. It was just, amazing.

"Pshhhh! Nice place." Arrowe said with some disgust in his voice. I looked at him like he was crazy. How could he say that? This was the best thing I'd seen in my life.

"How could you say that?" I asked him. Arrowe then nudged his head towards the city.

"Look at the colours and look at the people," He told me. "Then you might see why."

I looked out towards the city again, and didn't see anything wrong with it.

"You two better shower up," Our female mentor quickly told us, reminding me of how I still hadn't showered. "Before the Capitol smells you two and think your nothing more then dirty kids."

**District Six's Ricky Coler's POV**

Wow. Amazing. Those were the only words I could think of at the top of my head. So this is what the capitol looked like up close, it was even better seeing it in person then it was on T.V. Seeing was believing. You go through a dark tunnel, and then the first thing you see when you emerge from it is this. Like going to another world.

If there was any place that I'd like to live, it was here. I wouldn't have to worry about going hungry, cruel peacekeepers, or dying before my time. I also wouldn't have to worry about no Hunger Games reapings drawing my name.

In the Capitol, the only things that I'd have to worry about were if I'm up to date on the fashion accessories and wither or not the Hunger Games were going to be good this year or not. That would be a great life to have. It sounded harsh of me, since I didn't like what the games did to us, but at least I wouldn't have to watch members of my home get slaughtered.

Not being scared, worried about death, or living in District Six where you work on either machines or trim branches off the trees scattered across the area.

Work until your dead, that's the life of most people in District Six. The few lucky ones, the rich, don't have to work as hard as the rest of us do, but even then, they still have to work.

I gazed at the Capitol folks and wondered if they really had anything worth worrying about. Sure they might worry about being out done by someone else in terms of looking, odd, and that they had to look other places for entertainment if the games weren't happening. But did they have anything to really worry about?

I racked my brain to find something that was a life or death situation for the Capitol people, and anything short of a civil war or an uprising, I found nothing. Yep, if there was any place that I'd like to live, it'd be in the Capitol.

"Those people look ridiculous with those stupid fashion trends." My district partner Rayne Page announced, even though our blue skinned escort, Sky, was right behind us.

I turned my head towards Sky and saw the hurt and angry expression on her face. It would have been funny if I didn't see the big fork she was holding in her right hand like a dagger, ready to stab anyone that dared say another word. Even worse, she was pointing it right at us.

I just smiled at her, hoping that she wouldn't stab me since I didn't say anything, before turning back to the Capitol audience. Better not provoke Sky anymore then we needed to. But Rayne didn't seem to care what our escort was doing and what her expression was. She wasn't going to any Capitol support any time soon.

Though I did hope that Rayne would continue talking trash about the Capitol and their citizens. That way, she'd be hard pressed in the arena and wouldn't be getting any outside support from anyone but her family, whose meagre income probably wouldn't allow them to buy anything.

I knew my family was the same, even though my mom and dad only had me as their single child, but we weren't much better off then the majority of the district. They wouldn't be able to send me anything, which is why it would be ideal for some Capitol folks to get interested in me. The more Rayne shot down her chances, the better chance I got some sponsors. Hopefully.

As I looked out the window, the Capitol citizens were all staring at us, the new tributes for the games. They acted as if we were celebrities, they were staring, cheering, clapping, and even waving at us. But despite all the attention they were giving us, I had to agree with Rayne about the Capitol fashion, at least some of it. Some if it wasn't bad, like simple dyed hair like saw on some of the young Capitol kids. Or the earrings and simple claws on some of the older kids. But I didn't like the dyed skinned, animal eared, unnatural colour eyed stuff along with stuff that I couldn't even say. And that was the majority of what they were. Even so, I couldn't help but give little waves to them and smile at them.

"Why are you waving to them?" Rayne said in a kind of demanding voice. I turned to her while still smiling and gave her a shrug. "It's not like any of them are going to protect you in the arena." She told me. Why? Because you're going to make sure you kill me? I wouldn't be too sure about that. I wasn't going to die from you, and try as you might, you weren't going to be the one to end my life. And wither the Capitol likes me enough to give me sponsors or not isn't up to you. But I was going to return home with, or without the Capitol's help.

"You might want to show them some respect," Our female mentor, Hanna Cooper, said to both of us, but I could tell that she was saying it more to Rayne then to me. "Those sponsors might be the difference between you being alive and you being dead. After all, you might not get a backpack at the cornucopia. And let's say you do get a backpack, what makes you think that you'll get everything you want? You might get a weapon and no food, or get food but no weapons. That's where the sponsors come in to save your ass."

She would know about sponsors saving you, her sponsors had saved her when she had left the bloodbath empty handed.

Copper, who was hitting the hard side of fifty, had won her games because she had gotten a coil of wire from her sponsors. She wasn't the one for full on fighting, so what she did with the coil of wire was sneak up behind her opponents and strangle them with said item. She then stole the backpacks of the dead tributes she had strangled.

It was a rather scary and unexpected death if you ask me. One second your fine, then the next second someone is strangling you from behind to give you a slow death as you struggled to stay alive.

"They won't sponsor me," Rayne responded. "They'll want to sponsor one of the careers, especially if it's a good looking boy or girl. They'll be their first choice while the rest of us will be fighting for the rest." I then heard Rayne give out a laugh, which I found a little odd since she was basically talking about how sponsors were abandoning us, before she continued to talk. "Besides, I don't need sponsors to win. There have been tributes in the past that have won without sponsors, so I won't be spending my time trying to impress those who only see our face value."

**A/N: Some minor changes for this chapter.**

**Created website for characters. Hopefully now their pictures won't be deleted. Website link can be found in my profile and website will be updated when needed. See tribute pictures at own risk as they might not be head canon.**


	6. Chariot parade

**"It's gonna get harder before it gets easier. But it will get better, you just gotta make it through the hard stuff first." -Anonymous**

**District Eleven's Aerin Sevani's POV**

"Okay, now, lift up your arms." The green skinned male of my prep team instructed me.

I lifted my arms up a bit so that he could do whatever him and the rest of my prep team wanted to do to me. "Lift them higher." He instructed me again. Nervousness started to ripple through my body as I complied, and lifted my arms up to my shoulders. "Higher." He sighed, like I didn't understand him at all.

I started to wonder just how high he wanted me to go. Did he want me to lift them just a little bit higher, or did he want me to lift them a lot higher? I then decided that I'll just go all out and see how much was too much. I lifted my arms up until my hands were high above my head, and felt both a feeling of fear and incomfort as I did it.

I didn't like raising my arms above my head on command, even if his voice was significantly more hospitable than the vast majority of people that commanded me to raise my arms in such a position. It made me think of how people in my hands up position were surrendering themselves to the peacekeepers. I myself had been in this sort of position before, and it wasn't pleasant either. "Perfect." He said, pleased that I had finally got it right.

If this was the case, why didn't he just say raise your hands above your head? Ah well. Nothing I could do about it.

"So what do you plan to do with me?" I asked as my prep team was examining me from head to toe. I didn't like people looking at me like this, not when I hardly had any clothes on. It was a little embarrassing.

"We're checking to see if there are anymore imperfections before we hand you to your stylist." A silver haired woman that looked around my older brother's age. She was by far, the youngest of the group, everyone else looked around thirty, which was the oldest anybody in the capitol tried to look it seemed. I hadn't seen anyone look older then that in the Capitol other than their servants. Avoxes they liked to call them, traitors of the Capitol.

I looked at them, and while they had the same Capitol fashion on the outside, I could see that their eyes were just like those back home in the district. Empty, or close to it. Though they would still be closer to Capitol than district.

Our escort, Veronica, ordered them around casually, and they obeyed without a word.

But while they didn't look happy, they were much better off than just about everyone in District Eleven. So really, they didn't have that bad a life, as far as I could see. Still, they were stripped of identity, dignity, and whatever self worth they had previously had. They were empty, like their eyes. Dead, but not on the outside, they were dead where it really mattered.

No. They might be better feed and live without the worries that we district folks have, but they were not better off than we were. If anything, I think they're worse off than we are. At least we have an identity and what little of a future we could see.

"Well, I do want to look my best for the Capitol." I told them with a smile.

"Of course you do." She said before her and the others nodded with satisfaction. "You know, I think now's the time you meet your stylist, Melissa."

"What's she like?" I asked, wondering if she'd put me into some kind of insane consume. I wanted to know what she was like, I didn't think she was going to be bad, but, who knows, maybe she'd be a crazy person. But I doubt it. But this was someone who only graduated from District Twelve, so who knows what she's thinking. Though, she had been our district's stylist for a couple years, and her costumes weren't that bad, but people tended to get comfortable after a couple years. So was I going to be her experiment? Someone that she could try something dangerous or new on?

"Oh she wonderful." The green skinned male told me smiling. "A little strange, but, she's wonderful. She's really good for someone with only four years of experience."

"Strange?" I asked, wondering what they considered strange. "Strange how?" My prep team just smiled reassuring smiles to me and just said.

"You'll see." That didn't assure me much, but whatever she was planning, I bet it wasn't going to be too bad. They didn't want to injure or kill us. On purpose that is.

I then thought back to a chariot ride a few years back, and saw how a new District Twelve stylist tried to imitate Katniss and Peeta's costumes, with disastrous results. What calmed me down was that I knew that I was from District Eleven, and that my stylist wasn't a first year amateur. Melissa should know what she's doing, the prep team had confidence in her, so I guess I should as well.

I then looked at myself in the mirror and thought of how good of a job they did on me. I almost didn't recognize myself. My skin looked cleaner than it ever did in my life as far as I could remember, my hair was styled neatly, and they even covered up the scar above my left eye.

"Well," I said turning towards my prep team. "Thanks for cleaning me up."

"Our pleasure." The women with thick red tattoos all over her body answered cheerfully. "Well, we better get Melissa here so you two can finally meet."

As they left, I thought of how grateful I felt towards them because they left me in my boxer shorts. I heard from my mentor, Rune Shaith, that his prep team left him naked for what felt like hours on end. I made a joke to him about that, but he didn't find it as funny as my district partner, Angel, or our escort, Veronica, did. Guess he had bad memories of it. My prep team was nice, but what was this stylist of theirs like? They said she was strange, strange how? What could be considered strange in the Capitol?

Maybe she was like Angel and I. We were strange to the Capitol. If that was the case, maybe I could get along with her better than Rune had with his stylist.

"Hello there!" I heard a female's voice shout. I turned around to see a young looking woman with turquoise hair and deep green, vine like tattoos on her face. I looked lower to see that she was holding a bottle of wine in her right hand. Oh, this is what they mean by strange. Not as bad as I thought. "You must be Aerin!" She shouted happily walking up to me.

"Yes," I told her with a smile. "Yes I am."

"Hello Aerin, I'm Melissa, your stylist for the games, how are you this fine day?"

"Great," I told her. "Everyone's been really nice to me here." Which was true. Veronica had been nice to Angel and I during the reaping and the train ride. When we got to the Capitol everyone cheered for us and wanted to meet us. And then there was the prep team, who weren't as scary as I first thought they'd be. Thanks for scaring me Rune.

"Great to hear." Melissa said taking a swig of her wine before talking to me again. "Okay, so my partner and I have an idea for you and your tribute partner, Angel. Want to guess what it is?"

"Yeah, sure." I smiled. I wonder what they had in mind for us. Okay, we're from District Eleven, so it has to be something farm related or something along those lines. "We're farmers." I guessed.

"Not even close." Melissa told me. What!? Okay.

"We're farming tools." I guessed again. If we weren't farmers, we'd be the tools we use in the fields.

"Closer, but still far." Oh, this was going to be good.

"Some sort of plant?" I guessed. We farmed plants, so, this had to be it.

"In a way." Melissa said before taking another drink of wine. If she wasn't drunk yet, she'd soon be.

I opened my mouth to gave a guess to what kind of plant we were going to be dressed up as, only for the stylist to start talking. "Okay, Aerin, me and my partner decided to cover you and your partner in vines." Oh I see, farming, plants, vines, it could work.

"Sounds like fun." I told her, glad to find out that it wasn't going to be a complete disaster. I wondered what I'd look like covered in vines.

"Okay," Melissa said. "Take off those shorts." That took my by surprise, and I couldn't help but shout.

"What!?"

"We're covering your whole body in vines so we need you to take off those shorts of yours." She explained, not bothered in the least by what was going to be happening.

Was it really necessary? I wondered. "If your worried about it don't be," Melissa said in a way that indicated that she might be trying to calm me down. "Angel's going to be doing the same thing, and don't worry, just be calm." I don't know, this might be a little too strange for me. But, they were helping me get noticed by the Capitol and hopefully that would get me sponsors. So I'll continue to do what Rune told me to do, don't fight and do what they say, even if I did feel a little heat start to build up in my face as well as a sense of embarrassment.

But I trusted that Rune wanted what was best for us, so I did as she asked.

**District Four's Shoney Germoal's POV**

Well, this wasn't the best thing they could have came up with, but it wasn't the worst I had ever seen either.

When me and my district partner, Eva, came from our stylists, I saw that we were both dressed up as navy soldiers. Both of us had white button up shirts, white dress pants with black dress shoes and a black belt with a golden buckle on it, with white gloves for our hands. And last but not least, those white hats with the District Four crest above the brim. We were also given one rifle each. We were a complete set of naval soldiers, just like those in the history book pictures.

It was really cheesy, but at least it was original. I'm kind of surprised that nobody had thought of this before, instead, sticking to mystical creatures and water gods. Or on occasion, fishermen. I was glad that we weren't simple fish though, that would have been half humiliating and half stupid.

I smiled at the rifle in my hands. It looked almost real. I looked at Evaline and saw that she was smiling happily at the uniform she wore. She was checking it out by holding the fabric and looking at it from all angles. Was she really so happy to be dressed up as a sailor? It was her opinion I guess, she was entitled to it, and I was entitled to my own.

"Hey there fellow careers." A young girl's voice called out to my left. I looked over to see the twelve year old girl from District Two. Howl Draconix standing merely four feet away from where I stood. It almost frightened me at how close she had gotten to me and I didn't even notice.

She looked even smaller in person then she did on T.V, and that was saying something as she looked pretty darn tiny then.

I wasn't that big for my age, but at least I was a decent size, she looked like she could easily be trampled to death during the bloodbath if she wasn't careful. Kind of like how she could of been trampled during her reapings if she hadn't leaped from one kid's head to the next before reaching the arena.

She was dressed up in a shiny, silver dress with a split down her left leg. And attached to that, she had wings on her back. It suited her, she almost looked like a fairy, with her small frame and such. Though it looked odd for a District Two costume. What was the stylist thinking this year?

Beside her was her district partner, Lucifer Despar. He wasn't that much taller than me, but he looked stronger. I looked at his face and noticed that all his facial features looked small. His lips, eyes, and even his nose all looked a little strange on him. He wore a simple knight outfit, if it could be called that. It was mostly a sword and shield with steel chest armour. Someone's stylist had been lazy this year.

The little girl looked at Eva and I up and down, examining us like how someone would examine the quality of a fish from the market. "If one of you can be called a career that is."

"Hey, non-volunteer career, get over here!" A strong and rough like voice shouted. I looked over the District Two tributes and saw the District One tributes just over them. Behind Lucifer was Griffin, taller than the rest of us with short black hair and bigger muscles than Lucifer. He wore a jewel encrusted suit that shone and glittered at every angle, just like the one he wore during the reapings, except this time, his pants and tie were also covered in jewels. If his stylist wanted to blind everyone when he got into the open, they were probably going to do a pretty good job.

And beside him was Lynsa. She was also small and thin, but not as small or thin as Howl. Her chariot outfit made her look like a powerful female warrior. She had golden armour chest armour, a leatherish looking gold battle skirt, a golden shield with a sword and sheath of the same colour. At least the sword looked like steel.

Her costume was different from Griffin's, who looked like he was trying to be at the height of fashion. Period.

I looked over to curly red haired Eva who was walking kind of shyly towards us. It wasn't too obvious, I just saw little signs in her movements, though it looked like she was trying to hide it.

"So, here we all are." Lucifer said with his arms held wide, looking at each of us careers when we were all standing together.

"Yes." Eva said both happily and unhappily. "Here we all are, nice to meet you all." I saw the tributes from One and Two look at her and start to examine her. They looked up and down at her. Just like Howl. What were they looking at her for? She couldn't be that interesting.

"You seem okay," Lucifer said smiling. "For someone that was reaped."

"I may have been reaped," Eva told him with a little anger in her voice. All her shyness seemed to be replaced by confidence. "But I'm just as good as the rest of you, so watch it." Lucifer then put up his hands in mock apology and made an 'Ohhh, I'm so scared' expression on his face.

"Nice gun you got there." The little girl from Two commented looking at the rifle I was holding. "Can I hold it for a moment?" I shrugged and handed it to her. She examined the rifle for a moment before pointing it towards Eva. What the-!?

As far as I could see, nobody was trying to stop her. Griffin looked monotonic, Lynsa was caught up in the surprise, Lucifer looked like he wanted to see what was going to happen next, Eva was wondering what was going on, and Howl was smiling.

Then I heard the gun click empty before anyone could even react. "Darn, it's empty." She laughed before tossing it back to me. I caught it in mid air.

"Not funny." Evaline seemingly snarled at her.

"Good one." Lucifer laughed. Laugh as he would, I didn't find anything funny about it. I saw something in that little girl's eyes, I couldn't put a word on it. Aggression? No, that was too violent of a word. It was smaller, but similar. Maybe superiority over my district partner? I hated people like that. Either way, if there really had been bullets in that weapon, she would of gladly disposed of Eva, and probably claim that it was an unfortunate 'accident'.

I started to wonder if I'd get along with them if they were going to be like this all the time. Especially that girl, Howl.

"All tributes to your chariots!" A voice called out from behind me. "I repeat! All tributes to your chariots!"

"Well, we better get back to our places." Lucifer said walking away with Howl. "See ya later reaped career girl."

"Ignore them, Evaline." I heard Lynsa kindly say before she also left with Griffin. Was I going to be all right with people like this around me? After all, I wasn't that much of a career. I just volunteered out of curiosity and boredom, and Eva. Well. Eva was reaped, and that said a massive amount on its own. District Four wasn't the most respected career district, and Eva being reaped would only make it harder for the other careers to take us seriously. I just had to hope that having a twelve year old as a tribute evened things out.

As Eva and I climbed up on our chariot, I noticed that she was smiling, like she was looking forward to going out in our cheesy naval costumes. Maybe the words were spoken towards her by District Two hadn't affected her. Good, she shouldn't let people push her around like that. She shouldn't give them the satisfaction that they wanted to see.

As the District One chariot started to exit the tunnel, I decided to help out Eva a little, show her that not everyone was against her.

"Hey, Eva." I said, holding my gun in both hands. She turned her head towards me, wondering what I wanted. I smiled to her before I said. "Check this out." I then started to spin the weapon in my hands like a stick. "Oh. Yeah. Ugh." I said as she moved her body out of the way of the weapon's ends. "The Capitol's going to love- Opps."

I mistimed the turning, and the fake weapon flew from my hands and clattered on the ground. Our chariot then began to move, making it too late for me to go down and pick it up. "Well damn." I looked back to Eva, smiling anyway. "I guess I'll just wave."

**District Eight's December Juliet "Ember" Varen's POV**

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. I thought I'd never see him again, and yet, there he was. So far, yet so close. I wanted to call out to him, to let him know that I was right here in front of him. But it couldn't be him, it just couldn't, how could it be him? I was imagining things. Things like this didn't happen, they only happened in story books for children. A fantasy world plot line that people wish for. So why was I seeing him?

"Ready to go?" My stylist, Maria Velnore, asked me. I tore my eyes away from him before looking at Maria and telling her that I was ready. I got help from Maria getting loaded onto the horse drawn chariot and stood beside my district partner, Dav Anders. He didn't help me up the chariot. In fact, he didn't even look at me as I got on. Maria was the one to help me up the whole way. Why did this guy have to act so superior? It's not like he was better than the rest of us. He didn't have to act like he was the- Oh, the chariots are starting to move.

"Okay," Lola, one of the members of my prep team announced excitedly. "Off goes District One." I watched the chariots in front of me, and noticed that they didn't have any drivers, only the horses were pulling them. How did they manage to go the route from here to the president's mansion? Did they do it so many times that they remembered it? Were they trained to do it?

Deciding that I'd look into it later, I looked forward and examined the other tributes chariot costumes, wondering what their stylists had planned for them.

District One's always made a show, they were usually the Capitol's favourite as they had the best looking clothes and seemed to have the best designers. This year, the boy was covered head to toe in jewels while the girl looked like a powerful warrior in gold armour.

Then came District Two with the little fairy girl and the knight. The girl looked good with her silver dress and shiny wings that seemed to glitter and shine with every turn.

Then went out District Three who were dressed as circuit boards with some parts of them lighting up with red, yellow, or orange lights. The giant in the chariot didn't look too happy with his costume. In fact, nobody on that chariot looked happy. With five peacekeepers on the chariot along with the two tributes, there wasn't much room for them, the giant, or the little girl on it. I had to admit, it was a little funny. But wouldn't it of been better for only one or two peacekeepers to be with them instead of all five?

On that chariot was the one that I was looking at. The one that I wanted to be with. The one that I cared for most in this place away from home. My eyes must be playing tricks on me. I had wanted it so bad for so long, that my mind must be playing with me. This couldn't be real.

District Four came after them. They were sailors with rifles. Even if only one of them had their gun with them. Did the guy not get a gun? Why?

District Five then came out as light bulbs. The male tribute also didn't look too happy. He waved, but only just. I wasn't sure if it was because the albino couldn't, since his arms had little reach outside his costume, or because he wasn't enthused in general. He looked angry, just like the District Three male, but to a lesser extent. His district partner as well. She looked miserable as well. Wasn't she the one that cried out for someone to volunteer for her? What had driven her to do that? Fear? Denial?

District Six came out soon after, and they were dressed up as trains, if trains were supposed to stand up like buildings and were lit up like ones.

Then came Seven, they were dressed up as lumberjacks with red and black plaid shirts, blue pants, and black suspenders, all finished off with black work boots.

Then came Dav and I. I was dressed up with a knee length dark blue dress with glowing white strips and dark blue shoes. Dav had a dark blue dress shirt with glowing white strips with green pants and dark blue shoes. What I had that he didn't have were ribbons that wove down my curly dark hair. I waved to the Capitol citizens, like they told me to do, as they cheered at us. But why did we have to do this? Why did we have to dress up in costumes for them? It didn't make any sense.

To get attention, I told myself. The Capitol doesn't want to see us as people, just as objects that can be manipulated, molded, into whatever they wanted us to become. Some more than others. We weren't all equal, they had the same mentality as Dav. It was obvious. They didn't like the lesser districts, such as Ten, Eleven, and Twelve, which is why they got new stylists, those that were inexperienced. Those that worked for the tributes of One, Two, and Four however, got the best stylists, and they got the best costumes.

We were unequal, because the attention would automatically go to those from One, Two, and Four, because they had the best costumes. They were winners, and winners should look as such. Those below them were struggling to at least be seen.

Maria liked to say that she might not be as good as a career stylist, but she could still get her tributes noticed if she played her cards right. That everyone had a chance of getting noticed. To which I think, when was the last time that District Twelve was noticed? When was the last time that Districts Ten and Eleven were really noticed?

District Twelve did get noticed recently, for the reasons that their tributes nearly burned to death.

Maria was right to say that everyone had a chance, but not everyone's chances were the same. Still, she did her best, and I was grateful that she was at least trying.

I took a look behind me and saw that District Nine was dressed up as wheat grains. The male's seemed to be slowly crumbling as bits of grains fell in front of his face. Was that intentional, or just a badly made costume?

District Ten was dressed up as different things, just like the District One and Two tributes. The little boy was a satyr while the older girl was wearing a dress made of blue and green feathers, with dots of the same colours on them, with the same feathered, high collar. She was going for a peacock look. I got the peacock for the District Ten costume, but why the satyr?

Then came District Eleven. Their bodies were entangled with vines, and only vines that wrapped thickly every which way on their bodies.

And last but not least came District Twelve. The tributes were dressed up as coal miners, and their uniforms were white, like the District Four pair. They had a black chalk like substance all over their costume and their faces. Dirty and degraded, like all of Panem liked to look at them as.

But even with all those people out there, and all the things that caught my attention, I just couldn't help but look again. I looked back and saw him again. He'd be almost fifty now, but he it seemed he hadn't aged in the years he was gone. I thought I'd never see him again. But I didn't want to see him, not like this, not as a tribute for the games. Why did fate have to be so mean to me? The man turned around and looked at me, just as he did when he was escorting the giant from District Three past me. And just as I knew it was him, he knew it was me. I felt like crying now, why did it have to be this way? Did my ancestors want to punish him more? Or did they want to punish me for something? Or both?

"Why did it have to be this way?" I whispered to not only myself, but to him, even though he couldn't hear me. He turned away from me so that he could slam the back of his gun into the giant's back. "Why did I have to meet you like this, dad?"

Please. Let this be real.

**A/N: Some changes were made in this chapter.**


	7. Training day 1 part 1

**Training day 1 before lunch**

**District Twelve's Evanlyn "Eve" Scott's POV**

My last two days was a mixture of both bless and dread.

I had gotten reaped, and that was something that should explain the dread. I was going into the games, and there was a chance that I wasn't going to be going back to District Twelve. Back to my family and having to go through whatever awaited in the arena. It was that source of panic that seemed to hover over me with each passing moment. Almost like those moments before I'm about to commit a robbery. The thought that I wasn't going to make it out of the situation, the thought that my family would be forced to witness my demise, the aftermath that was to come from my failure. Those thoughts were born of fear, death, and abandonment.

I was used to this kind of sensation, but that didn't mean that I liked it. It didn't feel good having fear being held in my mind for so long. It would normally be gone by now. A day, maybe two, but I was on my third day of this feeling, and it was no where close to gone. It probably had something to do with the fact that I wasn't done my job. Back home, when I finished a robbery, the fear was that peacekeepers would break into my home and say that I had done the stealing. I only had to wait for a day or two before I was sure that that wasn't going to happen.

Right now however, it wasn't like that. My task wasn't over. The threat of defeat was still strong. My fear wouldn't be gone until this event was over. It wouldn't be over until I returned back home.

On the opposing side, there was the bless that came in the form of food and a kind of homely comfort that couldn't be offered back home.

The food was really wonderful, but I could barely keep it down due to it being so rich and flavourful. But at the same time, it was horrible food because it was so rich and flavourful. It tasted good, but I wanted to spit out every third or fourth bite because it was so overwhelming.

It was nothing like the food back home, and like my mentor, James Ashfall, had told us, it would take us time to get used to the type of food that the Capitol would feed us with.

Even though I was hungry, I just couldn't choke down a lot of food before I started to feel sick. James told me not to force myself, but as I looked at Colin, my district partner, downing his food with little trouble, I couldn't help but feel as if fate was slapping me in the face.

I found a source of food that could prevent me from being hungry, but it was so good that my mouth and body couldn't tolerate it.

Still, it was better than what my average District Twelve meal would be, so I was grateful for that. And given time, I would probably be able to eat the Capitol food without feeling like I needed to release the food from my mouth a fourth of the time.

I looked forward to that day. But until then, I was practically throwing up almost as much food as I was eating. Eating it was easy, it was keeping it down that seemed to be the hard part.

And while the beds were of superior quality compared to the ones back home, they were just as uncomfortable, if not more uncomfortable than the ones back home.

They were too soft and lacked the feeling of District Twelve sheets. It was just like the food. Good in small douses, but until I got used to them, they would be a pain in the ass.

Besides getting reaped, the worst part was the physical agony of the pre-chariot treatment.

My prep team scrubbed me down with hard brushes that felt like they were going to rip my skin from my body as they rinsed by hair with hot water and a comb so fine that made my hair tug my scalp with every tiny knot. They ripped out every inappropriate hair that they could find on me and would shave my nails into smooth ovals.

What I hated the most was that they injected me with some sort of substances that would put a halt to my reproductive system. Stop me from having periods. They told me that it was help comfort me while I was in the arena. I couldn't tell if they were lying or not.

They tried to perfect me, and I knew that every other prep team was doing the same.

It was a horrific progress, and one that I never wanted to go through again. I was glad when it was time to board the chariots, even if the costumes were less than original.

Now I was in for the next step of my journey. The training days. A chance to learn some skills that might be able to save you in the arena.

With only three days to learn as much as I could, I had to put those days to use.

As Colin and I got lead to the elevator that would lead us to the training center, I thought of what I had to work on. What did I want to improve on to give me better odds in the arena?

I wasn't going to be like Colin who arrogantly thought that he knew everything that was worth knowing. I was going to actually try and learn something, because I knew that there were things that I did not know. That, and I valued my life.

I knew what I had. I had speed and agility. That could help me get away from any hostile tributes or mutts that come after me. People always told me that I was smart, and having some of the best scores at school sure helped people think that way, but would it help me any in the arena? Perhaps. There were always things that someone could do that others couldn't see or think of. Maybe I could put my smarts to use.

Another thing I was good at was hiding. Being a thief, I learned how to hide in the smallest spaces while using the shadows and lighting to my advantage. I should see how to improve on that, because while I was good at it, I don't think I'm perfect. There have been times that had been way too close for comfort.

Maybe I could take up camouflage. And later, take some foliage identification courses. Those could help me survive in the arena, assuming that there would be edible foliage in the arena. I sure hoped that this year's arena wasn't going to be a barren wasteland of nothing, or some arena where everything was poisonous. If life came in the form of sponsors, I had to hope that I'd make a good impression on them while doing the interviews, and maybe get a half decent training score. My fearful reaction during the reapings might not have gotten many sponsors, so I had to make this count. If not for sponsors, than for me.

"Okay you two," Our escort said to us, talking so quickly that I could barley understand her rushed words mixed in with her weird accent. "Push the button marked negative one and you could get to where you need to be. Okay. Bye." The elevator doors then closed on us, separating her from us.

Wasn't she supposed to bring us to the training center? She is our escort after all. Maybe she's still mad about getting hit in the face with that rock back during the reapings. Or maybe she didn't like District Twelve in general, just like our previous escort. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter why she hates our district, we're going down by ourselves.

I looked over to Colin, who was the closest to the elevator buttons, and nudged my head toward the buttons. He turned towards me and looked at me dumbly. Maybe he didn't see me nudge my head, so I did it again. Again, he just looked at me dumbly.

For someone that thought he knew everything about everything, he sure couldn't take a hint. Deciding that I should try just one more time, just because the buttons were on his side, I nudged my head again, to see if he could understand me. He didn't.

I felt myself give out a light sigh before I reached over and pushed the button myself. The button marked negative one lit up a second before I felt the elevator swiftly start making its way down.

All of a sudden, before I could get back on my side of the elevator, I felt something start to play with my hair. I quickly turned around to see that it was Colin's large fingers fiddling around with my hair. Not liking what I was feeling, I swatted his hands away from me before I looked at him with a glare.

He didn't seem to notice my glare as he continued to smile his stupid smile. Because of that, I couldn't wait to get out of this trapped room and get into the training center.

"You know you like it." Colin smugly said to me.

"No, I didn't." I told him, thinking how he could have possibly thought that.

"You just don't know it yet." He then leaned in closer to me, in which I retreated away from him. "Here," He continued as he stepped forwards with every step that I took back. I didn't like where this was heading, not one bit. I felt as if something bad was going to happen, and there was no place that I could hide. "Let me show you."

A shockwave went through my entire body as I felt my back hit the wall of the elevator. Colin was right in front of me and advancing. I quickly dived to the right, his arm got in my way. I ran to the left, his other arm got in the way.

I tried to go under the arm, but his leg blocked my path. I didn't have to look to see that he did the same with his other leg.

I looked up at him and saw that he was smiling even wider now. I didn't even have time to process my worry when he quickly leaned forward in an attempt to kiss me.

Upon reflex, I blocked his head with my arms, preventing his head from getting any closer to me. At the same time, I started to lash out at him, kicking my right leg at his body. I started my attacks as his head touched my arms.

Kicking blindly, I couldn't see where I was kicking him, but I felt the impact of shoes against bone, and knew that I was hitting something, which was better than nothing. I just hoped that it was enough to stop this guy, or at least stop him long enough for the doors to open so that I could make a get away. It was hard though as it seemed as if he was pressing all his weight against my arms.

My kicking didn't seem to be affecting him as he kept on trying to push past my arms, until he unexpectedly pulled his body away from me, causing me to stumble forwards in surprise. Colin was growling loudly in pain, and I considered that a good thing. That is, until he reached forwards and placed his hands tightly around my neck.

That's when things started to get really scary. "Bitch!" He shouted as I felt him squeeze his hands around my throat, cutting off my air supply. I reached forwards and tried to hit his face, but I couldn't reach him. I was too small and he was too big.

I then reached over to his hands and tried to pry them loose, but I couldn't seem to get a grip, or get them to loosen.

I couldn't breathe! I couldn't fight back! I was going to die before I even entered the arena! No. I can't die. I have to go back home and help my family. I can't leave them! It took things from people like him all the time, I took things from peacekeepers for God's sake, things couldn't go downhill like this this fast! Colin was nothing compared to the peacekeepers!

The world seemed to haze when I heard a female voice shout out.

"What do you think you're doing!"

I then felt Colin's grip relax a little, allowing me to draw breath, but only enough for the world to clear and to know that I was going to live a little bit longer. I could breathe, but only just barely. It hurt breathing in almost as much as it hurt breathing out. But at least I was alive.

I continued to pull at Colin's hands, which I now saw was just a single hand around my throat, and saw a ginger headed girl swinging at Colin. She fought like a mad woman, but her body was even thinner than my own. My body was thin from near starvation, her's looked like everything had been sucked out of her.

My district partner, who never knew a life of hunger, had a body that was larger than the two of us combined, and used it to his advantage. Colin simply slammed the left side of his body against the ginger haired girl, and proceeded to crush her. His body so wide that he nearly covered her entire body.

Colin was stupid, but he was large, and stronger than he seemed for someone that was as overweight as he was.

Still, that girl clawed at Colin with all the strength that she could muster. Kicking and screaming all the way. She was fighting so hard that Colin seemed to have trouble containing her, trying to protect his body the best he could, looking worried, even fearful. I was a little amazed by that.

Still, it wasn't getting me any closer to freedom. I was still in Colin's grip, and he wasn't letting go. He wasn't squeezing as hard, but I could still die, and I didn't want that to happen.

"Hey you!" A male voice suddenly shouted out before I felt the entire world around me shake as Colin let me go. I felt myself fall onto my butt as I gasped for air, breathing in sweet sweet air as I wrapped my hands gently around my neck due to the pain that was lingering there. Neck seeming to of contracted a few moments ago now expanded, causing me to cough out.

Grateful for whatever happened, I looked for the source that had freed me, and that other girl, from Colin's heavy weight, and saw a tall and stocky boy with dark brown skin beating on my district partner.

In contrast to what had been happening just seconds ago, Colin now seemed helpless against the boy that was beating the living hell out of him. Punching his face in as well as slamming it against the elevator wall with audible hollow thunks.

Colin, probably never being in a situation like this before in his life, was reduced to a blubbering mess as tears ran down his face. The fight was so unfair that I almost felt sorry for Colin.

The dark skinned boy, who I now recognized as Aerin Sevani, released Colin from his grip and let him fall to the ground as the overweight boy wailed in pain and misery. His knees on the floor as his head hung down, almost like he was bowing down to the District Eleven boy. "Not so fun now that the situation's reversed, now is it?" Aerin shouted aggressively to the crying mess of a boy. "Is it!"

Aerin then lifted his right leg up, and smashed the underside of his shoe across the side of Colin's face, causing a spray of blood to escape his mouth as he was forced to the ground.

But even that didn't stop the aggression of Aerin Sevani, as he continued to pulverize his helpless victim. Thinking back to his reapings, wasn't he the one that looked happy and helped his escort say his name correctly, even though he had gotten reaped?

Looking at him now, he was no longer smiles and kindness. Instead, he was replaced by a twisted rage that seemed to hunger for suffering. This boy looked like he was trying to crush everyone bone in Colin's body. The only thing that that girl and I could seem to do was stare at the shock of all this.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" A voice called out an instant before an arm reached out and grabbed the back of Aerin's shirt, yanking him away from Colin's downed body. The man that had pulled Aerin away continued to hold onto him, all the while continuing to shout at him, telling him to calm down.

Then as quickly as this whole thing began, it seemed to end just as quickly as silence, save for Colin's crying, engulfed the area. It was pretty surprising. Not only did someone come to help me, but two came to help me. I couldn't help but feel bitter towards myself. Aerin quickly got pushed away by the older man before he walked up to us.

"You two all right?" I heard Aerin ask as I saw him extend an arm towards me.

I looked up at him and saw that his face was no longer a mask of rage, but of something that was calmer. From calm, to angry, to calm again. I couldn't tell if he was a good person or not.

"Yeah." I told him, taking his hand.

"Same here." I heard the other girl say before Aerin lifted the both of us to our feet. His grip was strong and steady.

"Thanks." We both said to our savoir, only for Aerin to smile a little at us.

"Couldn't just let him g-"

"Out of the way." I heard someone yell at us before the three of us quickly stepped away from the incoming bodies of three Capitol personal. One looked to be an athletic type of person, the same person that stopped Aerin from harming my district partner more than he already had, while the other two had pure white outfits on with red medical symbols on the front and back of their clothes. Medical personal.

The three of them swarmed Colin before the athletic one kneeled down and looked at Colin, listening to him crying. "Injured," He said calmly. "But alive and conscious." He then turned towards the medical duo as they unfolded a stretcher. The three of them then lifted up the large boy before placing on the stretcher and picking him up. "Patch him up you two."

As they medical team left, the athletic guy turned towards us and said. "The rest of you, file out. Training's about to begin." The three of us nodded at him before we walked out of the elevator and towards our destination. Myself one way, Aerin another, and the girl, Life Lee, another.

As I walked towards the District Twelve standing area, I noticed that even though my escort had hurried us down here, we weren't the last ones here. Only the careers from Districts One, Two, and Four, along with Districts Six, Eight, Ten, Eleven, and my district, were here.

As someone pinned the number twelve onto my back and shirt sleeve, I saw that everyone else had their district number attached to their sleeves and backs.

Looking at the tributes in the simple clothes that the Capitol gave us, I saw that most were even thinner than when they had first appeared. For instance, the girl from Six, Rayne I think her name was, had a really thin body despite being tall. She wasn't too bad compared to Life however. Her district partner was the same as well. Thin, tall, but very pale.

The District Eight girl was thin was well, but not to the extreme that Life and District Six was. She looked healthy enough. The boy from Eight had more weight on him though. He wasn't as fat as my district partner, but that didn't mean that he was any better than the rest of us as he was still heavy and looked out of shape. Hopefully he wasn't as strong as Colin.

It didn't take much to figure out that the boy beside Life was also someone that was hungry. But he was really short, almost like was nine or ten years old.

Looking at the District Eleven pair, I could see Aerin with his muscular frame that made it look like he wasn't as bad off as the majority of us were, though there were still signs of poverty on him. His partner was something that I wasn't expecting from someone that lived in District Eleven. While she was thin she had huge curves, something that I thought was impossible to get while starving. Not only that, but she had light skin instead of the normal tanned, brown, or black of her district.

The careers on the other hand were a different story. They had bodies of kids that looked like they had rarely, if ever, been hungry in their lives. They all had fit and healthy bodies that gave off an aura of dangerous, if not at least an 'I'm able to handle myself' aura. Even the little twelve year old gave off the same vibe.

The District Four pair both had healthy and fit bodies, same with the little District Twelve girl. Her partner had a more muscular build, but still wasn't to the extent that Aerin's was. The District One girl looked more like the District Four pair while her partner was someone that was both taller and bigger than Aerin. He was so big that his clothes looked almost too small for him.

He looked like someone that Aerin might be if he were taller, stronger, better fed, and starting his adult life. He was defiantly someone to watch out for.

The tributes that came in after us mostly looked like the non-careers. A few looked better feed and stronger than most, but they were nowhere near the level of the careers. Especially the District One male, Griffin.

The only exception to all that was the District Three male. When I saw him come through those elevator doors, he was even scarier than he had been on T.V. His very presents screamed danger. His very muscular build rivalled, if not exceeded Griffin's. Not only that, but he was taller than him.

Behind him came the scared twelve year old girl from his district with five escorting peacekeepers. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes any day.

"Hello ladies!" He shouted just after he left the metal room before laughing crazily. It wasn't just a feeling, it was a fact that I had to stay away from him. Not even that red eyed kid from Five scared me as much as he did.

When all twenty four tributes were in the room, a man named Hannibal welcome us all before listing off the stations which we could try out. There were weapon stations, survival stations, and obstacle courses. He also told us not to try and kill each other before the games could begin. As he made that part of the speech, I could see him eyeing Aerin, who looked away like he was guilty or something.

Aerin shouldn't feel that way. He did the right thing.

I decided that I should start with a survival station first, weapons could come later. After all, James had said that he had won his games due to being able to survive out in the arena while other tributes simply starved to death, among other methods.

"Okay," Hannibal said, ready to release us, but seemed to be trying to find the next words to say. "Ummm, have fun." Yeah. I thought sarcastically. I'll try.

As the tributes headed every which way, I headed for the foliage identification station. There, I met a stunningly good looking girl that didn't look much older then most of the tributes here.

"Well well well," She said like she was teasing someone. "looke here, my first victim, ready to see if you can feed or poison yourself?" I shrugged like I couldn't care less. I just wanted to learn something useful, I didn't come here to play around.

The instructor then pulled out a whole hand full of plants from a table to her left before placing them out in front of me. I looked at the plants and saw that while I recognized some, a large number of them I had never seen before in my life. "Okay," My instructor said. "Sort through those and tell me which of those are edible and which ones aren't."

"Isn't there an easier way?" I asked wondering if I had to go through each of these plants, some of which were tangled to each other, making them harder to identify. I couldn't tell where some started and ended.

"We could use the book," She told me. "But you'd only see pictures of them, I think it's better if you see the plants first hand." She had a very good point. All right, I'll see which ones I think are edible. Let's see if I could survive the mock arena.

After this test, I'll look up the pictures in the book and try to memorize them.

**District Two's Lucifer Despar's POV**

"So what are you all good at?" I asked my fellow careers. Me and my district partner, along with the boys and girls of districts One and Four, stood facing each other. "I'm good with close range weapons such as knives and running."

"Running?" The District One male, Griffin snorted, like he thought it was a joke. "What good's running?"

"It's good to use when catching a coward tribute running away." I answered, knowing that it was both the right answer and true. Most of the non-career tributes tend to run away from us when they know that they're going to lose to us. That's where my skills come in. To finish them off. "So, what are you good at doing Griffin?" I wondered what his skills were other than being big and strong looking were.

I then saw Griffin calmly walk to the mace weapon station. Pick up a heavy mace with both of his hands, and powerfully swing it at a combat dummy. As soon as he struck the combat dummy, I saw it leave the ground and do a back flip before it landed on its face, if it had a face, with a loud thud. I was impressed. "Okay," I said nodding my head in approval. "Strong. Close range. Mace." I looked to Griffin's district partner. "What's your skills?"

"Follow me." Lynsa told us. We then followed her to the archery station. When we got there, we saw the District Five female, Valerie, loading up an arrow into a bow, and letting of it before she put any tension on the string. The arrow, as expected, fell to the floor as the girl looked confused by the action.

Wow, she was lame. And that was putting it nicely.

"Do you even know how to use that?" I asked wondering if she even held a bow before. She was failing to do the most basic archery skills. It was pathetic.

"Guess not." She said looking at the fallen arrow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lynsa pick up a long bow and swiftly place an arrow in it. She then pulled on the string and released the arrow and let it fly into the center of the bullseye target. Her accuracy was top notch. But if that wasn't enough, she fired off about six more arrows in the time it would have taken for me to fire off two good shots. And even better, she hit them in the eight to ten score. If it were a person she was shooting at, she'd either hit them in the head or the neck.

"Very impressive." I told her. And I was impressed, very. Now we had two close range and two long range fighters. A good balance if I say so myself.

"Yes," Valerie said also impressed. "Where'd you learn to get so well?" Lynsa looked like she was about to say something, but I wanted to have some fun with her.

"You don't learn how to do it," I told Valerie, obviously lying. "You have to be born with the skill, otherwise, it's impossible to get this well." Sadness seemed to flood her eyes as she started to walk away, defeated by the lie that I had feed her.

When she was out of ear shot, I started to laugh. And so did, Howl.

"I thought I wasn't going to make it." Howl laughed as she held her stomach and bend down.

"I know, man, she's dumber than I thought." She actually believed it. She actually believed a lie that even a child would have seen through. I wondered what other lies I could tell her in the future. What other source of entertainment we could get out of her.

"You have to be born with those skills otherwise you can't learn them." Howl said making a mock version of my voice, which only made it funnier. "What a laugh."

"That wasn't funny you two." Lynsa said to us seriously, giving us a look that she was not amused by what we had just done.

"Yeah, that wasn't very funny." Evaline added. Those two had no sense of humour. Howl and I laughed for a bit more before calming down. I wanted to say that it wasn't funny, that it was hilarious, but now wasn't the time for that. We still had some serious work ahead of us, and that was first priority.

"Okay fine," I said taking one last laugh before turning all serious again. "Okay Howl, what are you good at?" I then saw the little girl walk to the knife section where three other tributes were hanging out at, the boys from Districts Three, Six, and Eight. The boys from Six and Eight saw us and looked at us. They seemed to be thinking wither they should back out of the station or continue to stay. It wouldn't matter either way, we were probably only going to be here for a few moments.

The District Three male on the other hand didn't seem to notice us. He continued to look at the knife like it was a lost treasure. Good, I didn't want him to see us yet.

This was the station that most non-career tributes try out first as it was probably the easiest thing to learn. Not only that, but it was a good defensive and offensive weapon. But only at close range. But unlike a bow, or a sling, you didn't have to load the weapon or worry about it running out of ammo. That, and those weapons were practically useless at close range.

A knife. A perfect starter weapon for beginners. Even if the only thing they'll learn is slash and stab.

Howl went beside them before picking up a knife and throwing it at a bullseye target and hitting it dead center. I knew that she was a knife throwing, but I didn't think that she was this good. Better than any twelve year old I ever saw. She'd be a great threat in the arena despite how she looked. I was glad that she and District One were on my side.

"Satisfied?" Howl asked proudly as the District Six and Eight boys looked at her in surprise before turning to the knife she threw. It wasn't a proper throwing knife that she had used, but the target was close enough for her to use it. If she had the proper tools, she could launch them at longer distances. Useful for fleeing tributes and taking people out in general.

"Yes." I told her before I then turned to District Four's Shoney. "So Four, what are you good at?" It was probably going to be some kind of fishing skill or something.

"I'm good at swimming and I'm good at running." Shoney answered. Fast huh, well, we'll see how fast he was when we race each other.

"Anything else?" Lynsa asked "You must have a weapon you're good with." Shoney looked around with his eyes a bit before saying.

"Knives, I guess."

"You guess?" Howl said, unsatisfied with his answer. "You are or you aren't, so are you good with knives or not?"

"Maybe he sucks at using knifes and doesn't want to show us." I said, making a show of it.

"Lay off him okay," I heard his district partner say coming to defend what little needed to be defended. "He doesn't want to show I'm guessing. So just trust him when he says he's good with knives." I then looked at Evaline and gave her a look that told her to know her place.

"Doesn't want to show us? Fine, but I have more faith in his abilities than yours reaper, even if he didn't show his skills off, we'll see his in a bit. But you," I said jabbing her chest with my right index fingers. "You were the only one here that was reaped, you going to prove that you aren't useless to us?" Evaline then glared at me before picking up a knife beside her.

"This outa be good." Howl said as we followed her. I couldn't wait to see what she did. She'd probably mess up or something. It would show us that having her in the pack would only slow us down, and it would make Eva think twice before criticizing us.

Watching the reaped girl go towards a training dummy, I watched her breathe in and out softly before she swiftly slashed at the dummy's throat, spun around in a circle, stabbed the knife into the side of it's neck, and delivered a side kick hard enough for it to shake.

"Not bad. Not bad." Howl said shaking her head with a little approval.

"At least you aren't totally useless." I commented. She was good for a reaped career, I'll give her that. She may not be that good, but she was better than the other reapers.

"What about you, Lucifer," Evaline said smiling. "You haven't shown us your skills." Did she really think she could intimidate me?

"Yeah, well, for now, I think we should just split and see the different stations and see what other tributes we might want to recruit."

"Who should we watch out for?" Shoney asked, looking around the training center and at the non-career tributes.

"Griffin and I think that we should look at three tributes." Lynsa answered. "Arrowe Winter. Aerin Sevani. And Zap Philistone."

"Don't you mean Tharizdun?" Shoney told her. "He seemed to get quite pissed at his escort for saying Zap and stuff."

"Well whatever his name is, watch him." Howl commented, like it didn't matter what the hell we call the guy as long as we watch him. "And we were thinking the same people."

Like our female mentor, and Howl's sister, Elektra Draconix, had discussed with us. The ones that looked like they were our best bets were Arrowe Winter, and Aerin Sevani, with maybe Tharizdun. She also added in a very maybe Bo Heatherfield, but like our male mentor, Perseus Maddox, had said to us, Bo Heatherfield looked like a pussy. Howl and I couldn't help but agree. How could someone like that even be considered into our alliance? He looked weak and afraid.

It wasn't until Elektra reminded us that she was once a quiet soul and that District Seven tributes were almost guaranteed to be handy with axes and hatchets that the rest of us considered Bo. In the darkest parts in the back of our minds.

Arrowe was a volunteer, and didn't look like he had the sickly look of most of the tributes that came from District Nine. And Aerin, like the more often than not males that came from District Eleven, was steadily built. Not only that, but he could fight and wasn't afraid to.

But there was a difference from fighting a fat ass and a tribute that could actually move about properly. Still, he was worth considering.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Watch those three. Tell us if you see any other potential candidates." I then looked over at Shoney. "Shoney, with me." He quickly obeyed.

When he was beside me, I got in a running position. "Run with me. I want to see how fast you can run." I didn't expect him to keep up with me. I could run forty meters in four point two seconds. But from my running time, I could judge how fast he was.

Shoney took position beside me, and we began to run.

**District Seven's Sami Lavisa's POV**

Don't show what I'm good at, at least openly. That was my plan, and a simple enough one at that. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, the attention that would affect me in a bad way.

I looked over at the careers who were showing off their skills with their weapons and how strong they were, knowing that they had weren't as afraid as the rest of us. They knew that just like every year, they wouldn't be the targets of the bloodbath, but the hunters that chased after everyone. They wanted to show their strength, to show just how powerless we were against them.

My mentors told me that there were four ways to escape the career hit list. One was to join the careers, two was to not seem like a threat to them, and three was to kill all the careers, the fourth was to die. I didn't think that I could join the careers, not with my weak body and limited skill set. And I couldn't kill the careers, nor did I want to die.

That only left choice number two, to fall below their notice and be seen as someone that wasn't a threat.

It should be easy enough since I've been like that nearly my entire life.

Looking around the training stations, I saw that there was a slingshot section and a dart gun section. I was good with both of those because of the play sessions that I had had with Gracie and Jhono. Hours and hours of playing with those things, and neither of them were very good at them, but I guessed that was because they were young and couldn't get a hang of them. I on the other hand, learned how to use them properly, and eventually got better at them.

I decided to stay away from those stations.

So what did I want to try? Something new. I wanted to try something new.

I looked around the weapon stations and noticed that some of them were occupied by the careers.

The District Two and Four males were challenging each other at an agility station. The District One tributes were at the archery station. The District Four girl was at the whip station. The District Two girl was at the spear station.

I didn't want to go to any of those stations due to wanting the careers to not notice me. That, and I just didn't want to be next to them, they were scary the way that they handled those weapons.

I saw that the sword station was unoccupied, and thought of how that station was probably as good as any. I could learn to use a close range weapon, but while I did want to start at the knife station, I saw the District Three male there, and I did not want to be near him.

I walked over to the sword training station where I was meet with a young, or at least young compared to most of the other trainers, girl that looked at me with interest. She had a smile on her face, so that was reassuring.

"Trying swords?" She asked curiously.

"Yes." I told her quietly.

"Well, we have a great selection of swords here." She said as she waved her hands slowly around the barrels full of swords. "Long, short, broad, thin, heavy, light, all kinds of swords that I'm sure we can get you. Whatever your preference."

I looked at all the swords, and noticed that some of them did look different from others. I didn't know the first thing from swords other than that they looked different, and probably weighed more than the next one. I didn't know which one to choose, so I picked the first one that was in front of me and pulled it out of the barrel.

I was surprised by the weight of the sword, having to use more strength to lift it than I thought I would have to. When I managed to get it up in the air, I felt my body start to lean backwards due to the weight of the thing.

As I fell onto my rear end, I couldn't help but give out a scream before the sword clanged on the floor.

Looking around, I noticed that people were looking in my direction. Most had surprised looks on their faces, others, like the District Two tributes had a look of amusement on their faces as they openly laughed and shook their heads. I felt a build up of heat in my face as more than twenty pairs of eyes were looking at me.

It didn't help that I heard my trainer chuckling as well. I felt like quitting. I was too weak to even lift up a sword and keep it up. "Wow." She said, her laughs calming down. "I didn't expect you to just pick up one of the heavier models." Suddenly, I felt less weak, but still felt the same amount of stupid. I had picked out a heavy sword! And got unwanted attention! At least it wasn't the bad kind of attention. I guess.

She then walked over to me and picked up the sword with one hand before placing it back in the barrel. "Sorry for laughing at you," She said as her laugher was nearly completely gone. "But that was a heavy practice sword. Weighing in at nearly twelve pounds, it weighs nearly three times more than a regular one."

I felt embarrassed about that. The first sword I pick up is one that weighs more than a normal one. Still, it was good to know that I wasn't so weak that I couldn't even lift up a sword.

She then handed me another sword that looked like it was the same length and width of the previous one. "Here." She said as she picked me up to my feet. "This one should be a better weight."

I reached out for the weapon, weary about the weight as the last one sent me crashing to the ground. But when I took hold of it, the weapon seemed to be much lighter. Still a little heavy, but a pretty good weight.

I swung that around a little, striking at the training dummies until my arms started to tire.

I looked at my trainer and wondered how I was with a sword. "I don't think a sword is suitable for you." She told me honestly. "You can't seem to swing it around for very long, or very effectively. I would tell you how you could try and improve, but I think you should try something that an't so long."

She then handed me a short bladed sword and told me to use that for a bit. "If you don't like this, there's always archery, or whips and hatchets." I took that advice, along with the weapon, and it felt much better. It was lighter and stressed my arms out less. I thought of how this weapon was one of the weapons that my female mentor, Amber Littlewood, used during the fifth quarter quell. Using her axes and her short sword, it proved to be a deadly combination.

I practiced with it some more until I saw the District One male come over to this station. That was when I decided to hightail it from this station and be away from the career presents.

Just like my strategy said. Don't get noticed by them. Well, I did get noticed, but at least it wasn't in a bad way. They probably thought of me as the girl that couldn't even lift a sword. Something that could be good in terms of not being seen as a threat.

Looking around some more, I noticed the weapon stations, something that was very important for non-career tributes that weren't in the career pack. Because unlike them and the careers, we didn't have a constant supply of food from the cornucopia to feed us.

Trying not to focus on the Griffin from District One who was swinging around one of the long swords faster, harder, more effectively than I had been, I headed towards the knot tying station. A station that had saved my male mentor during his game.

When I got to the knot tying station, I saw a girl around my age with wavy black hair trying to tie a knot with rope. She looked like she was struggling with it as beads of sweat were passing down her forehead.

"Ah. Another visitor." The trainer happily said to me with a smile on his face. "What would you like to learn today?" Something useful, I said to myself.

"Tr-traps." I told him. I couldn't help it, it just came out of me like that. I just, couldn't talk to people like others did. I could talk to my family better, but when I was with other people, it was a different story.

"Traps huh." He said, still smiling. "Some simple traps that can get you food, right?" I nodded, thankful that he understood. "All right, I'll show you what I'm showing this other girl here."

The trainer then handed me a long piece of thick rope, which I took from him, before he started to show me how to tie a trap line that could capture small animals and leave them suspended in the air. All that was required was rope, three sticks, something to throw the line over, and a counter weight.

From the way this guy acted and the way he explained how to tie and everything else, I think that he liked his job. That he might even be having fun with it. "And there you have it." He said, showing me the finished job. "Now you try."

And I did, but I quickly found out that it was easier said than done. I kept on getting it wrong and had to restart several times. He made it look so easy, and soon, I knew how the girl beside me was feeling, though I wasn't sweating. Yet. And she was grumbling under her breath, saying that she could never do it.

I wanted to tell her that if she kept on trying and just focused, that she just might be able to get it done. But I found myself too nervous to tell her that. "Want me to show you again?" The trainer asked. Say yes, I heard myself thinking. If he shows you he'd be showing me too.

"Can you do it for me?" The girl asked, throwing her half completed trap down in frustration. "I don't want to do this anymore."

For some reason, that reaction of her's reminded me of my siblings and their frustration when they couldn't get something right. Or if I hit more targets with a sling shot and they couldn't understand how they couldn't get the thing to aim properly.

"Oh come now." The trainer calmly said as he easily finished her trap. "It won't come immediately. It just takes practice."

"Practice." the girl half laughed half snorted. "I've never done this before. It could take all day for me to finish this, and I want to do other thing too you know."

As the girl kept on complaining, I started to try and remember the way the trainer had completed her trap. I started to try and copy his movements. If I tried to remember how he did it, put a picture in my head and did it step by step, I might just be able to do it.

I started to weave the knots, and soon, I couldn't even hear the sound of the girl beside me.

Through trial and error, I soon found my trap looking more and more proper. "Nobody just starting can-"

"Can we talk about something else?" My trainer asked, sighing with annoyance. I knew how he felt, so I could symphonise. "I've been hearing you complain for the better part the first three quarters of an hour."

As soon as he finished his words, I looked over at my finished trap, and was pleased with myself. It didn't look as good as his, but it looked close. I smiled at myself as it was my first accomplishment in the games. I wasn't in the arena yet, but this was still the games. I guess.

"I'm just saying that- Whoa, look at that." The girl called out. I looked up towards her and saw that she was looking at my trap. I looked back at my trap and didn't think that it was that impressive, but I still looked back at the trainer and wondered what he thought of it.

"Not bad." He told me kindly. "Not perfect though. It's close, but there are some problems with it. One is that you have too much slack here," He said while pointing to a section of my trap. "Here. And here." He then pointed to two other places. "Because of that, whatever you do manage to catch will only dangle three inches off the ground. Not bad for rabbits maybe, but anything bigger will escape."

Well, I didn't expect to get it perfect the first time, but I think I did really good for a first timer. "Another thing is your trigger."

My what?

He then knocked over the three connecting poles that I had placed together so carefully, and nothing happened. I was actually surprised that nothing happened. The rope didn't move, the trap didn't fly up. The counter weight, the rock, didn't fall. Nothing. "It's ineffective. So even if you had gotten those other things right, it wouldn't of mattered."

I felt my mood deflate with that being said. "It's okay." He assured me. "I wouldn't expect you to get this right the first time. With enough practice, you'll be able to get this done in no time."

He then went into talking about lines and lengths and triggers and different types of snares. Almost like he was speaking another language. I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying, but couldn't understand all of it. "Maybe two sticks would have been easier." He finished. "Probably would have been a simpler trigger. But then again, it wouldn't be as effective, or proper." I soon found out that he had a habit of talking to himself as he worked.

The trainer, the wavy haired girl, and I, then began practicing again. And while the other girl didn't seem to be doing so well with her traps, I seemed to get better and better. Until at last, I made the trap work.

When I saw the loop fly into the air, I couldn't but shriek out in delight. I felt like shouting out 'my first Hunger Games achievement!' Until I realized what I had done and quickly tried to look like I hadn't done that. I didn't look around just in case others were looking at me because of what I had just done.

I looked up slowly, and saw that the two people closest to me were also smiling. Though I didn't know wither it was because they were happy for me, or because they wanted to laugh at me. Please be happy with me.

"That was great." The girl said to me.

"Thanks." I quietly said to her, not wanting to look at her, just in case she was going to laugh.

"My name's Angel," The girl said as I saw her crouching down to my level. "What's yours?"

"S-" I started, nervousness getting to me as she got closer to me. "Sami."

"Well, you seem to have some useful skill Sami. I don't even know how you managed to do this." I smiled at her, but still couldn't look at her. "We could be allies you know. I'm pretty good with bows, so we won't have to worry about close combat." She was a long range fighter, just like me. That was reassuring. Having someone watching your back. "So yeah could be allies. If you'd like. Would you like that Sami?"

I nodded my head, telling her that I would like that.

Allies. "Allies."

**A/N: Don't ask me about traps, I'm just as confused as a non-trapper kind of person.**


	8. Training day 1 part 2

**Training day 1 during lunch**

**District Twelve's Colin Aldrin's POV**

I swear that they put every object in my way on purpose. I couldn't go a few feet without hitting something, nearly tripping over at times. Why were all these things in my way? It was so annoying. Couldn't they of put them some place else?

I heard the others around me, Careers and others alike snickering, trying and failing to contain themselves while some were full out laughing, and I knew it was at me. And I knew what it was for.

They weren't just laughing at me getting shin fucked by the inconveniently placed items, which I swear they put there on purpose, they were also laughing at the way I had been beaten up. They were laughing at how I had gotten beaten up by that District Eleven bastard. That was what really got to me. That some nobody thought that they could beat on me and get away with it. The smeared medicine, wrapped bandages, and pain were constant reminders of my humiliation.

And my district partner. She was playing hard to get to, but she wanted me, that much was certain. I had a way with people, though they always played hard to get to, I knew that they wanted me and just didn't want to admit it. Just like my parents had always told me, they were afraid to show it, so they denied it.

I showed her that I was interested in her, that I knew that she was interested in me as well. But she attacked me, and I got the blame for defending myself. Damn her. Damn her and those other two. If she had just went with it things would have been a whole lot easier, and better.

We weren't allowed to fight each other until we got into the arena, so revenge had to wait. For now, I just had to worry about idiot careers and the other stupid tributes that thought they could point and laugh at me. Talk about me like I wasn't there. There was seriously something wrong with them if they thought that they could get away with it for long.

I turned to them and flipped them off. Fuck you guys too, we'll be seeing who's laughing in the arena.

When I finally made my way to a table, I sat down and started to eat.

"Hey," A voice near me called out bitterly. "What are you doing here?"

"Duh, eating." I told him, stating the obvious. Was he stupid or something? He had to be if he was asking that.

"Do you have to eat here?" The boy asked.

"Yeah." I told him. I had to eat at a table, I wasn't going to eat on the floor. I wasn't some Seam rat, I was better than that.

"Whatever." The boy sighed. "While you're at it Twelve, eat my food as well, I hate these breads."

"Gladly." I told him grabbing his bread from him. I then started eating again. My parent's food was way better than this, but I still had to eat, so this was good, I guess. Couldn't wait to get back to the upper levels where they had real food.

After a bit, I heard him ask.

"So what's your plan? You just going to run and hide or what?"

No, I've got a better plan than that." I told him. He then seemed intrigued by it, and who wouldn't be? It was an ingenious plan. Looking at him for the fist time, I could see that he was that boy from District Eight.

"So what's your genius plan then?" He asked like he didn't believe me. I leaned in closer to him so that he could hear me better.

"You know the cornucopia right?" I asked him.

"Dar, yeah," He said like I was an idiot. "What about it?"

"I'm going to get there before anyone else." I told him. He gave out a snort.

"A fat ass like you? How?"

"I'm going to run before the gong goes off." I told him. I then heard him laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world. What was so funny about that? It was perfect.

"You can't run off the land mine before the gong you dumb ass, you'll explode." That's what everyone thought, but it was a trick, a trick to scare them. But I knew better.

"You'll see." I told him, I was going to get the best equipment because I wasn't going to be scared, like everyone else.

"And then what?" He asked. "Let's say your plan does work, but then what? Everyone will see that the mines are fake and run towards the cornucopia as well." I then saw him smile wickedly, like he thought of something funny or something. "And let's not forget, you got reduced to a blubbering baby when you got taken out by Aerin."

"He caught me by surprise." I growled at him as I ripped a piece of bread in half, imagining that it was Aerin. "If I were prepared, I would of taken him out for sure. So don't think that I can't take him out during the bloodbath."

"Sure man." He said with that stupid smile of his still on his face. "I'm sure you'll be able to crush him under your might."

"That I will." I told him, glad that he finally understood something. Though for some reason, all he did was snicker. I didn't find what was so funny about this conversation, but, whatever. He'll see that he was wrong about me. They'll all see that they were wrong about me.

**Training day 1 after lunch**

**District Ten's Max Starling's POV**

Fire making went fairly well for me, I managed to make a small fire from matches pretty easily, but making it from flint was much harder. I couldn't do it just yet. Making fire by rubbing sticks together was all hard. Maybe I'll try again later.

Plant identification didn't go so well, there were about twenty different plants and I mostly choose to eat the poisons ones. But that was okay in a way, I could live with that, I could go a long time without food, so I didn't need to worry about it too much. But it would be nice to learn how to feed myself in the arena, I mean, what if my food ran out and I couldn't hunt? I'd have to resort to plants, and I choose the ones that were poisonous, here, I had unlimited chances, in the arena, I had one chance.

Okay, don't freak out Max, calm down, you can try later. And who knows? Maybe you might not even have to resort to plants. Maybe you can just make whatever you get at the cornucopia last the entire game. The thought of that cheered me up. I had lived with little back home, I could live with little in the arena. Just like one of the victors back home. I can't remember what his name is, but he thought he was a tree, and lived off of nothing but water and bugs that crawled into his mouth. Never moving from the spots that people placed him in.

Yeah. If he can lived off of water and the occasional bug, I could live off of whatever the arena throws at me. No need to worry about plants, I didn't need them.

I looked around and saw that they had an axe station. An axe, my weapon of choice. I ran towards it and meet up with the trainer, a blond haired male with green eyes. And at the station as well was the twelve year old from District Three. Nessa I think her name was. With skin that reminded me of medium toned sap and elbow length red hair, she looked a little like a freak.

I saw the girl swing her axe at a training dummy, and when her axe made contact with the dummies chest it wedged in deeply.

"Nice," I told her, thinking that she was good for someone her size and district. "That went in deep, that was really good."

"Thanks." The girl grunted as she tried to pull the axe out, and was failing. She was pulling hard, but the axe wouldn't come out of the dummy, she pulled and pulled but all she did was rattle the dummy.

"I'd better take it out before-" The instructor started as he reached out to grab the weapon, but stopped when District Three gave a powerful tug on the dummy and it started to quickly fall. She gave a screech of fear before the dummy landed on her making her fall flat on her back. "That happens." The instructor finished before walking over to her and lifting up the dummy. I heard the girl moaning in pain, and the look on her face and the sounds she was making just made me laugh. She gave me a mean glare and I noticed that nobody else was laughing. I quickly quieted down, feeling that me laughing was something that I should have never done.

"What?" I asked not knowing what I did wrong. "Nobody else found that kind of funny? I mean, the dummy fell on her, and then the squeal, then the moaning and groaning." I looked at the instructor who had a blank face on him. "Oh come on, I can't be the only one that found that funny." I said as I felt my smile fading. Maybe it wasn't that funny. But then the instructor cracked a smile.

"It was pretty funny." He said now smiling. Yeah, so I wasn't the only one. I didn't feel so bad now. I saw him help the little girl up before easily removing the axe from the dummy's chest. He then turned to me and asked. "You wanna try little man?" Isn't the why I came in the first place?

"Yeah," I told him. "I want to try the axes, but I also want to try the throwing ones as well, what do you call it? Hatchets or something? I want to try those too. And also the two handed axes. You know what, I want to try all of it."

"Okay," The instructor told me. "One at a time, just try this normal axe first." He then handed me the standard two handed axe. It wasn't as big as some of the other two handed axes, you could hold this one with one hand, but it wouldn't have much power if you only swung with one hand. Me holding it was a different story. When I took the axe from him and walked over to the training dummy that the girl was training on, I had to hold it with two hands. I took a deep breath before saying.

"Wish me luck, this might not go well, but who knows, maybe, I could get something good."

"Luck." I heard the instructor quickly say before I lifted up the axe up high and as powerfully as I could, slammed the blade down into the dummies neck. I wasn't that strong, but the technique that I used made up for that. I had seen the way people used axes in my district. They might not be as good as the people in District Seven, but they were the best that I knew of. My axe had sliced through nearly a fourth, of the dummy's neck. I removed the blade from the dummy's neck and went in for a second strike. This time, the blade sliced through almost a third of the neck. I removed the blade again and used the third strike to get to the half point. After three more strikes, I managed to slice off the entire head. "That's some nice chopping there little man." I heard the instructor tell me. I felt pleased with myself, he said that I had some skill.

"I've watched people do this for years," I explained to him. "I seem to have picked up their techniques and all that." The next weapon he handed to me was the large two handed axe. He called it the executor's blade before it was big and heavy enough for someone to slice a person's head in half. He handled it fine, but when I tried to use it, I could barley lift it off the floor. I struggled and fought the executor's blade, but it was just too heavy for me. I managed to swing the blade, but all I did was cut the dummy's shin. And when I dropped it on the dummy's foot, it looked like I did more damage dropping it on it's foot than I did swinging it.

"It's alright little man," The instructor told me. "You did better than I thought."

"Really?" I asked not really believing him. "Because that looked pathetic, I could barley lift it higher than that dummy's shin, and I did more damage simply dropping it on it's foot. I mean, if that was a real person, I might as well just try and stand it up and hope that some dumb ass runs into it." I didn't like that weapon anyway, it hurt my arms trying to lift it.

The instructor than handed me a hatchet. I could hold it in one hand, it was light and manoeuvrable. This was a lot easier then the others. I striked the dummy over and over again with the hatchet until it was full of fairly deep cuts. I then stepped back and was ready to try and throw it. "Everyone watch out, I've got a hatchet and I'm about to throw it."

"Where at?" The twelve year old redhead asked.

"At that dummy," I told her pointing to the dummy that I had been practicing on. "Where else would I throw it? At that guy trying out the tridents?" The girl then looked over to the District Eleven male stabbing a training dummy with a trident.

"I guess not." She answered. I then placed my focus on the dummy ahead. Okay, I could do this, I could throw this hatchet and it will hit the dummy in the chest. Okay, here I go. I took a deep breath before exhaling. I then took another breath and threw the hatchet. And while it did hit the chest, just barley though, it was the handle the hit the chest, the blade was nowhere near the body. Damn, so close.

"I'm surprised that you even threw it." The instructor told me looking impressed.

"Really?" I asked, disappointed with myself.

"Yeah, usually if someone that's not a career or from District Seven tries to throw an axe, they slice their palm open and miss by a mile." That made me feel slightly better. "Some more practice and you could be hitting things with the blade of a hatchet." The instructor told me. Maybe.

"I'll think about it," I told him, wondering if I wanted to focus on the hatchets. "I really will, I could use some more practice on those hatchets. I might be back later." The trainer nodded before I turned around and left. What else could I try? A survival station, that's what I needed to look for. Maybe learn to make a blanket of leaves or something. After all, there were things besides food that I had to worry about.

"Hey, you." A voice behind me called out. I turned around to see the District Three girl behind me. "You're good with those axes."

"Thanks," I told her. "I've seen people use them for years, so I knew what to do, sorry that you had trouble with yours and I laughed."

"It's okay." She said, like it didn't really matter. We stood there in silence for a couple seconds before I turned around and started to walk away from her and walk towards shelter building. "Wait!" She called out. I sighed before turning around. What did she want? "I'm good with traps, that could be good for food." What did that have to do with anything?

"Good for you," I told her. "Now I need to learn that, did you say that to brag or what?"

"No," the girl said innocently, like she didn't mean it that way. "I just thought...you know."

"No, I don't know." I told her. "Thanks for bragging to me, now I need to learn about survival, I guess you need to learn about weapons," I then pointed over to the knife training section. "I've heard that that's the easiest weapon to learn, go try it." I then turned around and started to walk away from her again.

"Wait." The girl said again, getting on my nerves. I turned around and said straight to her face.

"What do you want? Say it and stop bugging me." She looked a bit scared before saying.

"You want to be allies?"

"What?" Asked not getting what she asked, did she want to be allies with me?

"Do you want to be allies?" She asked again. Hmmm, I don't know, I wasn't very good with people.

"Well you're good with traps," I said. "So that could be good for food, and I'm good with weapons so we're good at fighting."

"So you want to be my ally?" The girl asked again.

"Sure," I happily told her, now I wouldn't be alone in the arena. Like I had been back home. "But I've got to learn some survival skills and you've got to learn some weapon skills, I don't want to have to defend you all the time and I'm sure you don't want to always be hunting for me as well." And with that, we became allies.

**District Nine's Arrowe Winter's POV**

"Show me the hardest obstacle course." I told the trainer at the agility course.

"Are you sure that you don't want to start on an easier one?" The trainer asked as he looked at me straight in the face. Nah, I knew what I was doing, I was good at agility, but how good was I really?

"No," I told him confidently. "I want to see how good I really am." The trainer just shrugged and said.

"All right then," In a bored kind of voice. "Follow me." And then he led me to a course that involved climbing, running, jumping, and dodging. Wow, this looked tough. It was perfect. I could test everything I had. "Ready to start?" The instructor asked.

"Not yet." I told him looking over the course. There were nets that I had to climb, walls that I had to scale, tracks that I had to run, ropes that I had to swing, it had everything. It even had swimming. I looked at where I had to begin and started to make a plan out of it. I examined the height and length of every obstacle. This was going to be fun.

When I was finished looking at the course, I said to the instructor "Okay, now I'm ready."

The instructor then led me to the start of the course. A forty meter ran followed by a net around twenty five feet high. Easy, I could do this part in my sleep.

When I heard the instructor say go, I was instantly off. I was a fast runner, I knew that much, and was proud of it. My speed had helped me along with the rest of my abilities.

I quickly got to the net and started to make my way up. But it was easier said then done, my feet kept on getting tangled in the square holes and the net kept on shaking, making it tough to get my feet in and out of the gaps. It wasn't a matter of strength, it was a matter of finding your footing. It was tougher than I thought it would be, but I still kept on going, not wanting to quit this early. This course was just getting started, and so was I. I eventually made it to the top, and felt good that I hadn't been defeated this early.

Up at the top, there was a board that was about two feet wide that stretched about fifteen feet. I walked across it while keeping my balance, it wasn't too hard for me, two feet gave me plenty of foot space. When I got across that, there was a rope swinging stage where I had to let go of the rope and grab the edge of the wall I was supposed to scale. I didn't know if I could do that, it was risky, I had a high chance of falling, but that's what made this interesting, the risks.

I grabbed the rope with both my hands and jumped off the board. I felt the air rushing past me as I got closer to the wall. It was a shame that I could only swing for a couple seconds, that feeling made me feel like I was on top of mountain with a nice breeze to add to that.

I let go of the rope and grabbed the edge of the wall I was supposed to climb over. I felt my fingers grab onto the edge as they slammed onto the hard wood, and it hurt, a lot. But I endured it and kept my feet kicking and pulled myself up, clenching my teeth all the way. It was hard work, but if I didn't get up in about thirty seconds my fingers would start to slip. I pushed myself, pulled myself up, kicked my feet on the wall, and eventually got over the wall. I gave a quick sigh of relief. I didn't slip.

I climbed down the wall before planting my feet onto solid ground again. I turned around and saw the agility stage. I had to follow the yellow tape, easy enough. But the yellow tape went through cones in the middle of the track. I also had to go in a zig zag formation. Well, I did want to test myself.

I ran at the cones and followed the yellow tape. I ran between cones and jumped over hurdles before making it to the end. I felt myself hit a couple of cones along the way, but I didn't check to see if I actually did. Because now I had to go with the swimming course. I jumped into the water and felt refreshed as the cool water ran though my clothes and onto my skin. It felt nice, but at the same time, I was worried for my safety. But I focused on the task ahead, I wasn't alone, and if anything happened to me, the instructor would come and save me, I hope.

I started to swim to the end, but I soon realized that swimming wasn't one of my strong suits. I expected as much, considering my fear of drowning, and considering that there weren't many places to swim anyway. I made slow progress getting to the other side of the pool, and my arms were sore from stroking the water.

When I finally got to the end of the pool, I grabbed the edge of the pool and made myself climb out. Water splashed on the floor as I climbed out. Glad to be out, I focused on the last obstacle, tree climbing. It wasn't a real tree, but it was basically a poll with pieces of wood sticking out like branches in a tree.

I rested for a couple seconds before running towards the tree poll. I grabbed the lowest branch and began climbing up. But it was harder than I thought, it didn't look hard, but the water still on me made me slip and fall. The added weight didn't help either.

If I let go of the branches to early, I'd tumble to the ground. But I was good at climbing, it was one of the things I lived for. I reached for a higher branch, then went from there. My hands finding the best route and my legs soon followed. Soon, I was at the top of the tree poll, tired, exhausted, but at top. I had done it, I did the hardest obstacle course this center had to offer. I was happy, so happy. This Capitol training course was the hardest one they had, I felt confident that I could handle just about any kind of thing like this in the arena.

When I got down, I saw a curly red haired girl along with a pretty brown-blond girl with golden eyes standing by the tree poll. What were they doing there? Were they trying the course and waiting for me to get down? I then noticed the numbers attached to their sleeves. One and four. Careers. What did they want?

"Impressive stuff." The blond girl from District One said looking up the tree impressed.

"Yeah, that was something." The red head girl from Four said, but not with as much enthusiasm as One.

"Thanks." I told them, wondering if they were here to insult me. I'm good at what I do, but so were they.

"So," The girl from One said, now looking at me. "You've got skills, and we like people like that."

"Okay." I told them. I think I know where this was going.

"We'd like you to join us." The girl from Four said, answering my thoughts. "With you by our side, we'd make a better, stronger team. Your skills could come and handy, and with us around, you can rest assure that you'll be safe and survive the bloodbath." The careers, they thought I was good? Wow. I must be really good to get their attention. "So what do you say? Want to join us?" The careers, the best of the best. This could be interesting. And with them beside me, I'd have a better chance of surviving. And when I didn't want to be with them anymore, I could just run away from them in the middle of the night. But for now, they'd be my protection. I'd have to show them that I could be useful in the arena though. But, I'll risk it.

"I'd like to join." I told them.

"Great," The girl from One said happily. "Come with us and meet the others."

**Alliances so far:**

**Career pack: Griffin, Lynsa, Lucifer, Helena/Howl, Shoney, Evaline/Eva, Arrowe**

**Tribute pack 1: Sami, Angel**

**Tribute pack 2: Nessa, Max**

**Loners: Zap/Tharizdun, Alexander, Valerie, Ricky, Rayne, Bo, Dav, December/Ember, Thallina, Life, Aerin, Colin, Evanlyn/Eve.**


	9. Training day 2 part 1

**Training day 2**

**Twenty minutes before ten.**

**District Ten's Life Lee's POV**

"What was the hardest thing you faced in the arena?" I asked my male mentor, Druid Ray. I was curious to know what he had to face. Because I might be facing it to.

He was the mentor that I was mainly going to for advice since our female mentor, Sable De Balzac, didn't seem to want to go near me for some reason. Whenever I tried to approach her, she would walk away from me. If I got close enough to her to talk, she would just remain silent. Nothing I could do could get to acknowledge that I existed. No talking, not touching, nothing. It was strange, I don't think I did anything to make her hate me. Max seemed to get along with her fine. So why did she ignore me?

Druid on the other hand, while not impossible to get along with, was hard to get along with. He was bitter and often said things that made you think twice about what you just said. Often those second thoughts were you fearing that he would go on a rampage if you said another thing wrong. And the thing was, sometimes you didn't even know what you did wrong.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked staring at me with his emotionless, forest green eyes. Even though I didn't admire the man, I admired those eyes because of the lack of emotion that they produced, like they were immune to pain and suffering. Something that I would like to experience.

"Yes." I told him. I wanted to know, so that when I was in the arena, I could deal with the worst situation he could think of. He looked like he didn't want to tell me when he told me.

"I think you should know, you know what my game was like, you've most likely heard the story of how I won t-"

"Tell me." I demanded from him, just wanting him to answer my question. "Just tell me." I know it was kind of cruel the way I asked, but I wanted to know, I had to know. If I could survive the horror that he had to face, I could survive anything. If I could survive, I could go home. I could go back to Laurel, who I promised I'd come back for. Laurel, the only person that I cared about back home.

Druid sighed and brushed his shaggy dark hair back with one hand.

"Love." He answered not looking at me anymore, but somewhere else in the room. Maybe not even in this room, but someplace only he could see. Maybe a memory of some sort.

"Love?" I asked not believing him. "Really?"

"Yes really." He told me not sounding so nice and happy anymore. "When I was in the arena, I fell in love. Then it was only the two of us, and I double crossed her." He sighed like he regretted something, which it sounded like he did, and I think I know what it is. "I stabbed her." I knew it.

"Yes. I remember that." I told him, thinking back to that day ten years ago when he had won. He and his girl, Saddy, had made it to the final two, before they planned a double suicide. Druid betrayed her and stabbed her before he was supposed to. They way he told her that he was sorry before he tried to kill himself out of guilt. "She wanted you to survive."

"Yes." He told me, his eyes still emotionless but his face and voice curled into a snarl. "She wanted me to survive and continue living, because she couldn't." I couldn't understand why he was so angry about that. While I knew a little about how he felt, I couldn't understand why he was so angry at being alive. Was it like me and the feeling of powerlessness to prevent a tragedy from occurring? A feeling of wanting to meet loved ones in the after life?

At times, I felt like dying so that my suffering would end and I could meet my family. But I knew it would have just been a waste of life if I did. I don't think my parents would want me to just take my life. That, and if I did take my own life, everything that my family had would just go to the district.

Druid though, had a good life. A life that many could only dream of, and yet, he was so miserable. I guess his guilt is worse than mine, since he was the one that did the deed.

"So what are you saying?" I asked, not wanting to upset him, just in case something happened. "Don't fall in love?"

"Yes." He answered with a slight growl. "Love makes you stupid. It binds you to your lover, and makes you attached to something that needs to be severed. There's a reason that nobody has fallen in love before the seventy fourth games, and after, until my game, and since." Or at least made it out alive and well, I thought.

I took his words and kept them in my head. But I wasn't going to fall in love, because it seemed that everyone I loved was taken away from me except Laurel, and I needed to get back to her. No matter what.

***Ten minutes after ten***

"You sure are stubborn aren't you," My district partner, Max Starling, told me as we rode down the elevator to the training center below ground. "You just had to finish breakfast, you just had to finish that meal, which I don't blame you by the way, it's good stuff, but Aera is still scary. I mean, she's in a better mood than she was when she was before, but I still don't want to get slashed by those nails of hers."

Our escort Aera, she was in a better mood since we got to the Capitol, but her six inch nails still scared us every time she wove them around or pointed one of them at us. I swear, one of times she's swinging those around, she's going to break something, or hurt someone. Even our mentors and avoxs were scared when she was waving her hands around. And it wasn't my fault that I wanted to eat some more, I was hungry, and the food was too good to pass, and I was starting to get used to it. But no, we had to get to the training center on time, we just had to. Aera made a fit when I said that I wanted to finish my meal instead of going to the training center.

"You're late!" She shouted at me like it was the end of the world. "Come on! Hurry hurry!" And all I wanted to do was finish my food. So what if we were a minute late? So what if we were five minutes late? It was only five minutes or so.

"I just wanted to finish eating." I told little Max, knowing that he understood.

"Well you didn't have to fight her." He told me. "I mean, you saw her, she was angry and stuff. And it scared me to see you two shouting so loud." Yeah, we did fight a bit, we both shouted at each other. Me telling her to let me finish, her telling me to get going.

"She over reacted." I told him, which in my opinion, she did. She made a big deal out of something that didn't need to be.

"True." He said. "But at least we got more food." He smiled. Yeah, yeah we did. Because in the end, I won, I finished breakfast. I looked at Max and smiled. We both finished breakfast. We couldn't get anything like that back in District Ten.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the floor the training center was located at. The doors opened and I saw tributes already working at training stations. We were late, but only by a bit. I didn't mind. Nobody seemed to notice anyway.

As Max walked away from me I spotted my ally, Rayne Page from District Six. I waved to her, and she waved back. Yesterday, I noticed that she was great with a knife and I admired her bravery, because she wasn't, if hardly, fazed by the giant District Three male. That's what made us connect at the knife station, we both weren't afraid of him. Unlike a lot of other non-career tributes that tended to avoid the knife station due to him constantly being there and only there. Couldn't avoid him forever if you wanted to use the knives.

When she asked what I was good at, I showed her my axe skills. When she saw what I could do, she was impressed. I had a lot of practice with an axe, after all, I came from the farming district where animals needed to be butchered and sold. And with that, we became allies. I was glad that I could find an ally, I didn't think that anyone would want to team up with me.

After all, why would anyone want to ally with a weakling like me? I looked like someone that was about to drop dead. And there was the fact that I couldn't help that girl from District Twelve when she was being attacked by her district partner. In fact, I had to be saved as well. It made me feel worthless. Nobody would want to be my ally because of that.

But then Rayne came along and we discovered each other. I didn't tell her about my fight with Colin, just in case she decided to dump me because I couldn't fight. Just in case she was reminded of my weakness.

Soon after we became allies, I found out that she was strong and smart. When we were at the plant identification center, she almost memorized the edible plants that were provided to us in a couple of hours. She was definitely a good ally. But there was just something about her that I didn't like. I didn't know what it was, but I still had a feeling that there was something bad about her that I should be worried about.

As I walked over to Rayne, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. To my left I saw a fight going on. I looked over to see three kids. Two older, one younger. The two older ones were Bo Heatherfield from District Seven, and Lucifer Despar from District Two. The younger kid was Howl Draconix who was also from District Two. While Howl was standing close to Lucifer and laughing, Lucifer looked like he was trying to provoke Bo. The District Two boy was shoving him with both of his hands causing Bo to stagger back a little each time he was shoved. Bo was taller than Lucifer, but Lucifer looked like he was stronger then Bo.

"Come on, District Seven!" I heard Lucifer challenge before shoving Bo again. "You gonna do something? Huh? I thought District Sevens were supposed to be almost career like!" He then shoved Bo again. "You don't look like nothing! Want to prove me wrong!" He then shoved Bo again, who didn't do nothing but take it and look away from his attacker. Much like a scared child that didn't know what to do. "I'm talking to you, boy!" Lucifer shouted before grabbing his face and roughly turning it towards him. "What's wrong, seven? Don't like looking at people?" As I looked at them, I thought of how Bo didn't look like an older kid right now, but he looked like a younger kid being picked on at school. It reminded me of my sister, Faerie, who was helpless when she got crushed by our horse, Den. Or what Laurel would be like without me, helpless. I saw Lucifer take Bo's white bandana from his head.

And before I knew it, I was right between the two boys.

"Why don't you leave him alone!?" I shouted to Lucifer, who wasn't scrawny or weak, unlike me. Lucifer then held his hands up in the air in mock surrender.

"Ohhhhh I'm soooo scared." He mocked at me before leaning towards me. "Why don't you make me." He laughed. I then pulled back my right hand and threw a fist at his face. It wasn't very strong, but it surprised him so much that he took a few steps back. I was just as surprised. I didn't mean for that to happen, it was like someone else punched him and I just watched it happen.

When he recovered, I didn't even know what happened. Because the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, flat on my back and looking at large red stars swirling in a black sky. Pain radiated over my face and I felt dazed. It was nothing new, but I still didn't like the pain.

I tried to straighten myself up, only to feel something scrape across my face, rattling left side of my face and all my teeth. "Think you're tough now, bitch?"

**District Six's Rayne Page's POV**

One moment, Life was waving to me and I thought that she'd come over here and we'd practice some spear throwing. Then the next moment, I saw her on the ground, getting attacked by the District Two guy. Had she just had to try and stand up to them? Did the careers attack her? What had they done? I don't think Life's stupid enough to pick a fight with the careers for no reason.

I ran over to her just as the District Seven boy grabbed District Two boy from behind and put him in a choke hold. Lucifer Despar then started to struggle with the District Seven boy, distracting him from me running towards him.

Yes, that's it District Seven, keep him busy so that I can punch him in the face. Nobody attacks my ally and gets away with it. You might be a career, but there's three of us and two of you. A pretty even fight considering that one of you careers is just a little girl.

I quickly closed the distance between us and readied a fist to be thrown. When the distance was closed, I swung my right fist at the career boy, only for him to duck down at the last second and dodge my blow, and for me to strike the District Seven boy across the face. I couldn't help but look in surprise as the wrong boy flew away from me and his grip loosened around the target's neck. This wasn't part of the plan.

Before I knew it, a sharp pain erupted inside my core and I felt myself letting out a painful gasp as the air inside me rushed out. I felt myself bend over just as I went airborne. The world circled around me, and I began wondering what was happening just before I crashed onto the ground. Sudden ripples of pain went through my body as I tried to piece together what just happened. Did he throw me into the air?

I gave out an unwanted cough, which helped spread the pain, and heard a guy start talking. "You take care of Seven and Ten, I'll take care of Six."

"Got it." A girl with a higher pitched voice answered.

I wasn't going to let him take care of me, I was going to take care of him. I sprang to my feet and faced Lucifer and quickly sized him up. He was shorter than me, but he looked stronger with a more muscular frame. But just because I was thin didn't mean that I wasn't strong. And even if he was stronger than me, I doubted that he could match my speed. That was what I was going to use against him.

I raised my hands into a fighting position and the two of us locked eyes for just the briefest of a second before he threw the first punch. I moved out of its path and countered with one myself. It was fast and powerful, but he moved away from my fist and slammed an open handed chop on the side of right side of my neck, hitting a part of my throat. I felt lucky, because if it weren't for my quick reflexes, it would have hit me directly in the throat.

It didn't hurt that much, but I still sputtered out a cough before the spot he hit me actually started to hurt more with each passing millisecond.

I put the pain in the back of my mind as I quickly swung an elbow at my opponent, only for him to duck under it and swing an uppercut at me. Again, it just barely missed me as it sailed past my face. It was so close that I could feel the air swoosh past my face. And before I could launch a counter attack, I felt something hard and pointed smash against the side of my head, causing me to stagger to the side.

Even so, I managed to stay on my feet and look at my opponent. My opponent that was also looking at me with a cocky grin and a sense of superiority. It seemed like he was taunting me with his body posture alone.

I then decided that I was no longer going to play nice. It was time for Rayne to get serious and not just think of this as just another kid from District Six, like I should have done earlier. He was a career, and I should treat him as such.

I yelled out at him before I charged at him and threw a series of punches at him. I threw them with the intention of hitting him, but every thing I threw at him he either blocked or dodged. Rights, lefts, a mixture of both, nothing could hit Lucifer.

I then decided to kick at him, but the first kick that I launched got caught in his hands before I felt myself being flipped just before I saw the world become upside down. Landing on my ass, a shockwave of pain shot through my rear. "That all you got?" Lucifer taunted.

Feeling my anger start to surface, I quickly got to my feet and started to throw more fists at him. Left, left, right, right hook, left hook, right elbow, left hook, right uppercut. Nothing seemed to get to him as his used his agility to move away.

Throwing a right fist that I was determined to use to blow through his head, I shouted to gain strength, and threw. But like he always did, he dodged the blow, but then I felt something else happen. I felt him hitting me. I felt pain rumble through my stomach, then I felt it explode. I felt the air rush out of my body as I tried to get air back in, but for some reason, I couldn't remember how to breathe.

I then felt myself get pulled forwards before I felt rippling pain explode through my mouth before the pain in my stomach became even more agonizing, causing me to drop to my knees. I could taste and feel the faint metallic flavour of blood in my mouth before a pointed knee hit me in the face causing me to fall to my back.

I felt the blood thicken in my mouth as my vision became blurred. I felt myself cough painfully as I lifted my back up, only to see a blur swiftly approach me before a shoe connected with my face, sending me back on the ground.

Dazed and feeling confused with ringing in my ears, I felt myself slowly getting back up. I wasn't going to quit, not just yet. I could still fight.

"That's enough!" I heard someone shout over the ringing.

Recovering from the assault that I had just gone through, I blinked a few times while waiting for my vision to clear. Within moments, I could see district mentors standing around us looking displeased with us.

"What's going on?" The District One female mentor asked looking at all of us, wanting an answer.

"Nothing." We all said at the same time.

"Nothing huh?" The male mentor from Two said, not really believing us. "Care to tell us the truth?"

"We were just playing." Lucifer answered. I looked at him to see that he was in the grasps of my male mentor. Someone who was both taller than me and stronger looking than him. "Just playing." Everyone else, myself included, just nodded and agreed. We all didn't want to get in more trouble than we already were in. While the mentors didn't seem satisfied, they told us we could fight as much as we wanted in the arena and separated us.

"Well that could have gone better." I whispered to nobody except myself. Damn, I couldn't even land a single blow on him. I was strong, I knew that. I was fast, I knew that to, but he was better than me. Maybe even faster and stronger than I was. I didn't want to admit it, but I had been beat. I mentally beat myself up for that. I couldn't get beaten again. If this were the arena, he could of killed me.

Never again. I couldn't be beat again. If I got defeated again, it was going to be my life that I would lose. I wasn't going to allow that. Die in the arena, or return home? The choice was obvious.

I looked over to my ally and saw that she was trying to make conversation with the District Seven guy. Behind them was the little District Two girl glaring at her mentor, who strangely seemed to resemble her.

"Here's your bandana back." Life said holding up a white bandana, I guessed that it was District Seven's. District Seven took it in silence. He placed it back around his head before staring off in the distance. Not really looking away, but not exactly looking at the girl that helped him out. "Your name's Bo right?" Life asked the boy. "I'm Life." Again, the boy just slightly looked at her but also slightly away in silence. "So, you got any allies?" Life asked. I knew where this was going, and no, we weren't going to have this guy with us. He didn't fight back, he'd just be a burden to us. We couldn't fight all his battles for him.

"No Life," I told my ally thinking of how it was a bad idea to have him. "He's not joining us."

"He could be useful," Life told me. "I mean, look at him, he looks strong enough to handle himself."

"If he decides to fight back," I told her. "I didn't see him take care of himself against the careers." Because we had to help him fight his own battle. Why'd you get involved Life? It would of just been better for us to not get involved. Now the careers would look at us like we were easy targets. They would look at us like we were people that would fight them. They would look to finish the fight we just had.

Should have just left him to the District Two tributes.

"What weapons are you good at?" Life asked before I grabbed her shirt collar and dragged her away from the District Seven boy. We didn't need anyone useless on our team, especially someone that couldn't fend for himself. We could go along just fine, the two of us.

We just had to get prepared, just in case something like this ever happens again. I lost in hand to hand combat, Life lost in hand to hand combat, so we both needed to improve on that. I knew which station we should concentrate on now.

**District Eleven's Angel Hale's POV**

Being my district partner, and someone that was in the same class as I was, I didn't see why I didn't ask him before. It should have been my first choice for an ally. He was a kind person where ever he seemed to be, wither it was back home in the district, or wither it was during the reapings, or train ride, or even here. Sure there was that time yesterday when he punched out that fat guy from District Twelve, but he was doing that to rescue the District Twelve girl and the District Ten girl from his wrath. Even back home he was the same.

Besides being a nice guy and being strong and able to defeat someone that two others were having trouble with, he was skilled with knives and scythes. Not too surprising since they were farm tools, something that he must of used a lot since he was in the fields most of his life.

The reason that I hadn't asked him before was because I was nervous when I thought of asking him to join the alliance Sami and I were in. So nervous that I asked Sami to ask him for me. But her being shy, didn't want to. She seemed almost scared to ask, so scared that she seemed to hide behind her orange hair like a certain. So I had to do it myself. I didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway. There was no other way to ask him to join our alliance. It had to be done.

I walked up to him as he was starting to work on camouflage.

"Hi." I said to him as he was painting himself with green and black material. There were spots of black and green all around his torso and about half his face. He looked like he was trying to blend in with the laid out earth below him.

"Hi." He smiled back. Ugh, how should I ask him? I hadn't thought of that.

I felt my nerves start to get to me as I realized that this was the first time that I had ever really spoken to him. We were from the same district, and we were in the same class back in school, but I was never in the same group of people as him. I didn't know what to do, and I felt myself start to panic.

"You want to be allies?" I asked suddenly. Oh crap, why'd I just go all out just ask him like that? That was stupid of me. I should have thought this through.

"Sure." He said still smiling, unfazed, and surprisingly, happy. It was a bit of a shock.

"Really?" I asked hoping that he wasn't kidding around.

"Yeah," He told me happily. "In fact, I was thinking of looking for allies, but I didn't know who to ask, so, I'm glad that you asked me." Wow, he was glad that I asked him. I was happy that he said that. The thing was, I felt something for him back in the district for some time now.

"Your welcome." I told him happily, letting myself relax again, knowing that the worst was over. And there it was again, his smile. Though he was almost always smiling. It made my day to remember that, even though it had only happened around an hour ago that I had last seen him. Now our group had three people in it. Two long range and one close range. We were a good group if I say so myself. Two to keep people away, and one to fight just in case they got too close.

Sami and I were trying out the spear station when I saw two older kids approach Aerin while he was lifting weights. Even though Aerin was my age, he sure was lifting a lot. There were big weights on each end of a pole, and he way laying down, pushing them up and down with his arms. I looked closer and saw that those two kids that were now standing beside him were careers, they were the boys from districts One and Four. What did they want with Aerin?

I tapped Sami on the shoulder, and when she looked at me I pointed towards Aerin and the two careers. "What do they want?" I asked her, wondering if she had any thoughts on the situation. She shrugged her shoulders, she was just as confused as I was. I then decided to get a closer look, see what they were saying, see what those careers wanted. See how Aerin would respond. "Come on Sami, let's see what's going on."

As Sami and I got closer to them, the words that were coming from their mouths were becoming clearer.

"What do you mean you have other allies?" I heard the big guy from One ask, slightly angered from what he heard. I'm sure that Aerin said that he already had allies, and that was us.

"It means that I already have allies." Aerin said to him nicely, trying not to make a fight, unlike some other people earlier today. I watched some of that fight. It started out with the District Two careers harassing the District Seven boy. Then the District Ten girl tried to help him, but only got herself and her ally into a fight that didn't belong to her, again. The boy from Two and the Girl from Six began to fight each other, as well as the girls from Ten and Two. The boy just pathetically looked like he was trying to stop the little girl from fighting, like he didn't want to hurt her in any kind of way. She took full advantage of that.

Still, even with the two of them going at her, the boy from Seven and the girl from Ten ended up on the losing side of the battle, which I thought was kind of pathetic. She was a twelve year old girl, how hard could it be to beat her? The girl from Six also lost her fight. And it wasn't until the mentors, not the trainers, that separated them and ended the fight before it got too out of hand.

I won't count the fight between the District Two girl since the two non-careers were probably really bad at fighting, but the District Two male devastated the District Six girl. If things went bad between Aerin and the two careers boys, I didn't want to think of what would happen.

"Sorry, but, I'm not going to just leave them after I told them I'm going to join them." While the boy from Four was calm about it, I could see the bigger, stronger boy from One's hands shaking and had an expression of suppressed anger on his face.

"You'd rather join a group of losers?" The boy from One growled through his teeth, the top and bottom of his teeth hadn't left each other while he spoke. He was clearly angry. And not only that, but his voice was rough, almost violent sounding. It almost reminded me of the peacekeepers back home, which made me shutter a little.

"Okay, calm down." The boy from Four told him calmly. "He doesn't want to join us, his loss." He clearly didn't want a fight to erupt, and I didn't either. The boy from Two looked hard enough to handle, and the District One boy seemed to be twice as big and six inches taller.

Four then turned to Aerin and calmly explained to him. "Listen, we know how to use weapons, we'll have almost all the supplies from the cornucopia, you'll be guaranteed to survive the bloodbath, what's not to like?"

"I like all of it." Aerin told him still being friendly to them, even though they were trying to get him to do something that he didn't want to do. "But I'm not going to abandon my allies." Aerin. He was better than I thought. He wasn't just going to abandon us when something better came along. That was when I knew that I could trust him to not betray us.

"Suit yourself." The boy from Four said like he couldn't care less. "Come on, Griffin, let's go." The boy from Four then turned away from Aerin before saying. "If he wants to die in the bloodbath let him."

But the boy from Four didn't seem to notice that the District One boy, Griffin, wasn't walking away from Aerin like he was. I saw Aerin continue to push the weights up and down, working on his muscles. The weight in his hand looked fairly heavy to him. I then saw the District One boy then, with little effort, place a hand on the center of the bar Aerin was lifting, and started to push down.

Because of the added weight and pressure, Aerin couldn't lift it properly and struggled to push away the bar that was approaching his throat.

Seeing that Aerin was in trouble, I turned to Sami and told her the obvious.

"Aerin needs help! Let's go!"

Before I gave her any time to think, I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her with me. I wasn't going in there alone, not with two careers there. The District Four guy looked like he had no interest in fighting, but I didn't fancy our chances against the District One guy by myself. We had to get Aerin out of there together.

Sami seemed to be silently protesting, but I knew that it was better that she came along with me and not just stay on the sidelines. If someone stayed on the sidelines the whole time, then the person that was getting hurt was just going to continue to get hurt. I should know, I had been in that kind of situation before. My whole family had been in that situation before. I wasn't about to let that happen to Aerin.

I got within twenty feet of the giant career before I felt something slam against the left side of my body, pain rippling through my left ribs as I felt my feet leave the floor. I hit the floor, hard, before I heard a high pitched grunt that was mixed in with a squeak. I looked over to the source of my pain and saw that the District Four boy, the one that I thought had already left, was laying down beside me.

All three of us were on the ground. Him, Sami, and I. The career was holding Sami's shirt with his left hand as her body was planted on the floor as well. His feet were right on my injured ribs. I'm guessing he kicked me before grabbing Sami and forced her to the ground as well.

I glared at him for stopping us from helping our ally, and threw a kick at him. He easily rolled away from my attack, spun his body, and kicked me in the face, sending a splash of bright colours to appear in front of me as pain spiked my face.

I didn't let that stop me though, because as soon as the second of shock was over, I lunged for his leg and took hold of it with both my hands. "Sami!" I shouted as I crawled up his body, noticing that he was no longer holding onto Sami. "Help Aerin!"

I crawled on his body until I was on top of him, just like in the pinning position that I saw so many tributes did in the games. A lot of tributes had trouble escaping from this position, so as long as I stayed on top of him, he was just about helpless.

I couldn't help but smile in triumph as I pulled back a right fist and threw it at his face. But I felt him readjust my throw, causing it to move too much to my left, making me miss his face as my fist connected with the hard floor. Pain rippled through my fist as I felt him grab my arm and my momentum to make my throw continue it's path, scrapping if across the floor.

I felt myself start to lean to the right, and before I knew it, I was off balance and I was rolled onto my back, with the career on top of me! No. No no no, this wasn't what was supposed to be happening. I was supposed to be the one in the dominant position!

Things went from bad to worse as the career pinned me in a position that trapped my arms, making me unable to defend myself from any incoming attacks. And that's just what happened. As expected, I couldn't defend myself from the three blows that hit me in the face so fast they almost felt like one.

Each hit wasn't bad, my dad had hit harder than him, but three of them stacked together was another story. "That all you got!" I shouted at him, wanting him to concentrate on me and not Sami. I could take hits, but I didn't know if Sami could. If she could get Aerin free, than she wouldn't be alone. But for now, all I could do was keep the threat away from her.

Because of that, I felt an arm press against my throat, cutting off the air from my body.

I struggled to get free, but he was just holding me down too good. His body felt heavy and I felt too weak to do anything, just like back home when my dad was hitting me. There was nothing that I could do about it, and there was nothing I could do would stop it.

I couldn't run away, and I couldn't defend myself. A losing situation that made me feel helpless, no matter what I did, because no matter what I did, there was no stopping him.

Soon, the distant beating of drums appeared in my ears. Then I couldn't even feel myself breathing anymore. Then my vision began to blur as dark shadows came from the edges of my sights. I continued to struggle against his weight, but nothing I did seemed to help. I began to think that I was going to pass out, until I felt the weight of his body lift off me and I felt a rush of air get sucked into my lungs.

The sounds of drums and my sights began to clear as I felt myself coughing as I sucked in sweet sweet air through my sore throat.

I looked up and saw my female mentor, Pepper Ridgeway, holding the career boy in her arms. Pepper, being as big as she was, made the District Four boy look almost like a tiny child she was so large.

"Stop fighting, right now." She commanded. The District Four boy automatically complied. I don't know wither it was because he was scared of our mentor or not, but either way, he stopped so suddenly it was almost shocking.

"Okay." He calmly said, almost as if he was giving in to her. Which, I guess in a way, he was.

Wondering how Aerin and Sami were doing, I looked over to see that Aerin was thickly bleeding from the left side of his mouth while Sami had her hands over her mouth. Ahead of them, the District One male was being held back by our mentor, and his mentor. I saw that our attacker had a heavy weight in his right hand. No doubt that he attacked Aerin with it. It was probably why Aerin was bleeding so badly from the mouth.

"Griffin!" His mentor yelled at him. "Stop this madness and put that weight down!"

Griffin did as he was told, but not in the way that they thought he'd do it. I saw Griffin toss the weight towards Aerin, and before I could even warn him, or he could react, the weight landed on his left foot, and I swore I heard a sickening crunch occur before Aerin started to scream. "What the fuck!" His mentor shouted before the two mentors started to pull Griffin away as Sami gasped out in shock.

"Aerin!" I shouted as I ran towards him, worried about him and his might be broken foot.

Aerin picked up the weight and got it off his foot before he stared to hobble around, screaming out a string of curse words. "Aerin!" I shouted, panicking. "Aerin! You all right?"

"Fine." He grunted, obviously lying as he continued to hop.

"You two get him to the medic station!" Pepper shouted to us as she continued to hold the District Four boy. "Nemo! Nemo where are you? Get over here so you can have a chat with your boy!"

"Medic!" I shouted, wanting to have the medic come to us rather than the opposite. "Medic!" Even so, I took one side of Aerin, and when told to do the same, Sami took the other side. We lifted up Aerin as best we could, but he was so heavy that we were dragging him just as much as we were carrying him.

"You girls all right?" Aerin asked over the noise of the mentors.

"Yeah." I told him, more worried about him than me. I might of gotten hurt a little and been chocked to a point that I thought I was going to pass out, but he got his foot crushed!

"Em-Hmm." Sami said quietly.

"Good." Aerin sighed. "I was worried. Thanks for coming to my aid. Both of you. Especially you Sami, thanks for pulling me away from under those weights."

"We're allies." I heard Sami quietly, almost inaudible, say, and so did Aerin.

"What was that?" Aerin asked.

"She said we're allies." I told him, thinking of how this was the first sentence that Sami said without stuttering. It was short, but it was something.

"Yeah." Aerin said with a smile on his face. "Allies."

I began to like Aerin even more, and not just as an ally. He didn't stray away from us, not even when the careers made him a deal for him to join them. He wouldn't abandon us, or sell us out. I'm glad you're my ally Aerin.

**A/N: Happy Remembrance Day everyone. May we never forget those who sacrificed and suffered so that we wouldn't have to.**

**"Never was so much owed by so many to the so few." -Winston Churchill**

**I forgot to get quotes for the previous two chapters. I'll go back and change that at a later date.**


	10. Training day 2 part 2

**"Dear enemies: I have so much more for you to be mad about. Just be patient." -Big Sean**

**Training day 2 during lunch**

**District Three's Zap "Tharizdun" Philistone's POV**

While most of the others were sitting by themselves or in small groups, I was never alone, or in a small group. Because I was always surrounded by these bastard peacekeepers. Five of them. Always following me, watching me, trying to prevent something from happening. It made me laugh.

What they were doing was pointless. I was going to kill those girls anyway, why'd it matter if it was now or later? Those peacekeepers wouldn't be able to stop me once I was out of their reach.

I looked around the room to see who'd be my first. There were six that I really wanted, the rest were too old for my liking.

Who should have the honour of being added first? Should it be my little red haired district partner? The orange haired girl that seemed to be scared of anything as dark as her shadow? Maybe that girl she was following along like a lost dog. How about that curly haired girl with the not overly dark skin? Or the pale blond girl? Perhaps a challenge was up ahead with the tiny career girl.

So many choices. So many to choose from. I couldn't decide which one I wanted first, but I wanted them all.

I felt something tap on the back of my head, probably a peacekeeper weapon judging from the blunt end of it.

"What are you looking at?" I heard one peacekeeper ask.

"What do you think?" I told him knowing what he was thinking, it was obvious.

"Fuck, is that all you think about?" The peacekeeper sighed and snarled. "Raping and killing little girls?" No, I also think about killing you too. I mean, what little else could I think about? I couldn't eat because of this blasted mask. I couldn't kill with you people around. I couldn't wait to get into the arena where I could have the freedom to kill those lovely girls and do what I want. In there, there was nothing that could stop me.

"What's your favourite body part?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked surprised.

"What's your favourite body part? Body part. Body part. Body part."

"Why are you asking me this?" The peacekeeper asked. He was confused, so I told him.

"I want to know which body part to cut off her." I said pointing to a girl with a girl with black curls with the number eight on her back. I felt something slam the back of my head. It sounded like it would hurt. But it didn't hurt, nothing hurt me.

"Fuck you!" A man shouted. "I hope you die in the bloodbath!" You would hope that. Everyone hoped that. But you don't always get what you want, unless you make it happen. Like I do. Like I did. Like I will.

***After lunch***

**District Five's Alexander Natas's POV**

I felt someone run into me and almost knock me on my back. God! Watch where you're going! For fucks sake, how hard is it to run into a person! I looked down to see a little thirteen year old boy looking up at me with fear in his eyes, afraid of my reaction. Yeah, that's right, fear me, because I could kill you right here and now little boy.

"I'm sorry." He said, voice full of terror. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and I got distracted by my ally who I was talking to, I'm sorry that I ran into you, I just didn't see you." You talk too much kid, cutting off your tongue should take care of that.

"It's all right kid." I said reaching out to him, offering my hand to help him up. He looked at my hand for a couple seconds before accepting it. I helped him to his feet and smiled at him. "Don't run so fast next time." All in good nature, until someone losses their legs.

"Thanks." He happily told me, mostly from relief, before running off with the twelve year old from Three. Both so small, so weak, so helpless. They wouldn't put up much of a fight in the arena. They'd both be easy targets, easy kills. They could try to learn as much as they could, but I knew that no matter what they learned, they wouldn't survive long. That whatever they learned wouldn't help them in the long run.

That boy from Ten was an annoying loud mouth while that girl was bundled up with short lived energy. They'd kill themselves, and each other, because of those faults. The boy would lure another tribute in, and the girl, unable to run away, would get caught. And even if they did fight back, what were the chances of them actually posing a threat?

They might surprise me, but I doubted it. I don't think they're those kinds of people.

I walked over to my favourite weapon station, knives. They weren't the best choice weapons of the arena, but they could do so much. Stab, slash, scalp, fella, and more. I tried every weapon there was to offer in this training center, but none of them made as much of an impression on my as a knife.

I went over to the training station and picked up a survival knife. I felt the weight of the knife in my hand and held it in my right hand, loving the feel of it. I walked over to a training dummy and stabbed it repeatedly in the stomach before slashing its neck a few times and kicked it down. It landed with a thud and I was pleased with the work that I did.

Quick, easy, and effective. That was why I liked this weapon. I didn't need to be a career to use this. Fancy manoeuvres? Who needs that? All that matters is that you kill your enemy.

I turned back to select a different knife when I saw a girl around my age at the knife station. Hmmm, interesting, not a lot of people came near here because of the guy from Three. And surprisingly, she wasn't here for the knives. I saw that she was talking to one of the five peacekeepers that were constantly around the District Three giant. The District Eight girl, December her name was, but she called herself Ember. She was talking to the oldest peacekeeper who looked around fifty years old or something. I listened in to their conversation.

"I still can't believe it's you." I heard her say to the old peacekeeper. The two of them then walked away from the District Three male and the other peacekeepers before continuing their conversation. I returned the knife I was holding to where it had been before I got it and got close to them. Not too close though, I was still at the knife section, but I could hear what those two were talking about. I had to admit, I wondered what a girl like her and a guy like her would be talking about. 'I still can't believe it's you', she said. How did they know each other?

"I can't believe it's you as well." The old peacekeeper said as he hugged the girl from Eight. "December Juliet Varen, you've grown up a lot since I moved." They then broke apart before the girl December asked.

"Why are you here? I mean, why now?" I heard the old man sigh and look at the District Three male. I heard he was a psychopath, a monster, the worst that anyone could be. So dangerous that peacekeepers were stationed around him for the safety of the other tributes. "Bad luck I guess."

"It has to be more than bad luck." The girl said to the peacekeeper, who I thought had some deep connection to the District Eight girl. Why else would they be talking like this? "It's just too perfect, you were there, I was home, now we're both here. Do you think that Capitol did this? Or do you think those up there want to punish us?" When she said up there, she pointed to the sky. Up to where God was. God, if there was anyone he was punishing it was me. He made my life a living hell. Making me what I was and taking my parents away from me, leaving me at the bottom of the pile where the pieces of shit in society live.

God could make anything happen, and he must have thought to himself. Why not make a kid who has no parents and make him miserable? But with a twist, make him white haired and red eyed, so that people don't even treat him as a human. And so he created me. Asshole.

"I don't know what made it happen," The peacekeeper told her. "But we're here now, and there's nothing we can do about it." I then saw her crying, what was she crying about?

"I hate it here," She told him through her tears. "I hate training to kill, I hate having to watch other kids kill, I just hate these games." She then looked at the peacekeeper in the face and asked. "Why did we have to meet this way, father?" Father? This guy was her dad? I hit myself in the head, I should have seen this coming. It all made sense now. Talk about horrible timing on their part. She's going to the games, and he gets to see her go off into them.

"I don't know." He answered sadly. "I don't know." They then made more small talk before they hugged one last time and the girl went away crying while the dad came back to his group of peacekeepers, pretending that the encounter never happened. I walked over to him before saying.

"Nice girl isn't she?" I asked him. He looked at me with both anger and surprise. I guess he didn't expect anyone to come up and say that so soon.

"What do you want?" He asked not so nicely, looking at me suspiciously.

"I just want to say I'm sorry," I told him. "I mean, the timing of this, to see someone you love in this situation. I mean, it must suck, father dear." A look of shock then formed on his face

"How do you know that?" He asked suspiciously and scared. I gave a little laugh before answering him.

"You weren't exactly giving yourself a low profile when you were talking to your little girl over there." I then saw the words register on the other peacekeepers faces, they were shocked to hear that as well, but not as shocked as the December's father. "Oh," I said looking at the other peacekeepers. "You didn't know?" From their looks, they didn't. I couldn't help but smile at the situation. "You should really tell them father, I bet they're dying to know about your daughter."

"He's got a daughter?" A deep, rough, and all around evil voice asked. I looked ahead of the peacekeepers and saw that the giant from Three was now standing up and looking in my direction. He was the tallest person I had ever seen, he was well over six feet tall. He was also muscular. He also had a face muzzle on his face for whatever reason it was for him having it on. I looked up to him and smiled.

"Yeah, this guy here has a daughter that's a tribute in the games." I told him while pointing to December's father. "She's the pretty little girl over there." I said pointing to December who was working on editable foods.

"Bastards," The elderly peacekeeper snarled. "Both of you." Worried for his daughter, just like any father would be. But there was something that he probably knew as well, something that all of us knew about.

"How old is she?" The giant asked looking over at her.

"Fifteen, I believe." I told him. I then felt as if he was smiling, smiling in a cheerful way. That might have scared some other kids, but not me.

"You fucks." The peacekeeper snarled at us again. "You leave my daughter alone." Threatening us was he? What did he think he was? He can't stop anyone from hurting his little girl in the games. He turned to me and looked at me angrily. "I've seen you around albino, you act all nice on the outside, but I know that inside, you're like him." He said pointing to the giant from Three. I then started to laugh. He was right, I acted all nice to the other tributes to make them not worry about me. The only tribute that knew about my true nature was Valerie. Now he knew.

"Okay," I told him. "You want to know my true nature fine. Let me tell you a story of three bears, you know what bears are, don't you ?"

"Yeah, I do." He answered still looking at me intensely.

"Good." I told him unfazed by his stare. "So, there are three bears, a father bear, a mother bear, and a little girly bear. Now, papa bear finds that his little baby bear has all grown up and can't believe it's her. They then spend some time with each other, catch up and all that. But before he knows it, baby bear is being hunted."

"Yeah, by hunters who trap her in a cage." He snarled angrily at me. So he got the symbolization of the three bears, he even added in the hunters, which I was going to add. Good, I could move forward without explaining everything.

"Actually, no." I explained to him. He was half right, but still wrong. "You see, papa bear is really the one who gets caught in a bear trap and has to watch his little baby bear get attacked by the hunters."

"No!" He shouted. "She's helplessly trapped in a cage with people trying to kill her, how as I the one trapped!?" I smiled at him.

"Because papa bear, your little baby bear is helpless before your very eyes. And there's nothing you can do about it. Because wither it's this hunter," I said pointing to myself. "Or that hunter," I said pointing to the giant. "Or any other hunter here," I said spinning my arms while pointing in the general direction of every tribute in the room. "One of them is going to kill baby bear, and maybe wear her pelt as a trophy." That didn't seem like such a bad idea now that I thought about it.

"No," He said to me full of anger. "I take back what I said before, you two aren't alike, he kills for himself, he's a psychopath. But you," he said pointing to me. "You're a sadist." He then looked between me and the District Three giant. "I don't know which is worse."

"Whatever." I told him as I turned my back and walked away from him and his group of peacekeepers.

It didn't take long before the peacekeepers started talking among themselves.

**District One's Lynsa Fylar's POV**

Griffin had taken that Aerin's rejection kind of far. He was beating some training dummies beyond repair with a mace. In fact, if you didn't know that it was a training dummy, you wouldn't even know what it was before, it just looked like a giant pile of stuffing. He was scaring the other tributes near us, but I wasn't about to ask him to stop. As much as I'd like to, I'd seen him at school while he was enraged, you try to stop him and things wouldn't end up well for one or both of you.

Much like how Aerin had ended up thanks to Griffin. If it weren't for Aerin's allies, I'd hate to think of what Griffin could of, would of, done to him. It started out with Griffin pushing the benchpress bar down towards Aerin's throat, trying to crush it. But then Aerin's allies came to his rescue, his orange haired ally pulling him by the feet, away from the deadly bar. The bar fell from his arms, missing him by inches, before crashing to the floor.

But the fight didn't end there. While his district partner was fighting Shoney, he and Griffin gave a little struggle before Griffin picked up a weight and smashed it against Aerin's face, causing him to spray blood from his mouth. I was surprised the Aerin didn't lose any teeth.

Lucifer didn't want to stop it, and neither did Howl. Arrowe just seemed to follow their lead while Eva and I didn't want to get in Griffin's way. Thankfully, some mentors split up the gang and Aerin's allies got their ally to the medical station after he got his foot crushed.

My male mentor, Bastion Barons, may have chewed Griffin out, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl thought that it was better this way. And even though they all got chewed out by their mentors.

Griffin thought that it was a great strategic move. Howl thought that it showed everyone that they couldn't match the might of the careers. And Lucifer thought that they were both right.

As much as I wondered why they couldn't just show off their skills, like normal people, I wondered something more important. Why didn't the trainers stop them like they had stopped Aerin from beating that guy from Twelve? Shouldn't the trainers stop tributes from fighting each other? What was going on?

They didn't stop Lucifer and Howl from fighting three other tributes, and they didn't stop Griffin and Shoney. Why was that?

"Spazz much isn't he." Howl said to nobody in particular, as she continued to watch Griffin beat the training dummies. It didn't sound like a question.

"Is he like this often?" I heard Eva asked me looking at Griffin beating yet another training dummy with a heavy mace.

"Only when you make him mad." I told her. And really, it sometimes didn't take much to make him mad. Like many kids back home had learned early on, it was best to just avoid Griffin and hope you don't run into him.

It was a while, but Griffin finally looked like he calmed down enough to start being civilized again. Griffin was breathing heavily and sweating from swinging a mace up and down, left and right, up and down for almost five minutes. For five minutes, he silently beat the training dummies beyond repair.

"Oh look," Howl announced. "It's calm again." Before I could even think that it was a mistake for her to say that, Griffin punched a training dummy in it's face so hard that the head flew off. Everyone in the career pack seemed to follow the head with their eyes as it sailed through the air and landed on the ground with a soft, but not quiet, thud. The head rolled a couple feet before stopping.

"Are those training dummies realistic?" Arrowe asked us looking at the training dummy head, then to the training dummy.

"No." All the careers except Griffin answered at the same time. He was probably worried that if he got hit by Griffin, his head would fly off like a ball in a basket. But thankfully, if you got hit in the head by Griffin, your head wouldn't fly off your neck. Though you'd probably be able to do little to stop what came next. Griffin then took his place beside me. At least he was calm enough now to be civilized. Still had to worry about getting punched though.

"Okay," Eva said to us. "Now for the final plan, though I'm not sure it's the best idea." We all knew where this was going, the last part of our training room strategy, the one that we did, but also didn't, want to do. We had been discussing wither we should have the District Three male on our team for the past two days. His size and build was beyond even Griffin, but the only weapon he seemed to know about were the knives, and that was the only station that he went to. In fact, he stayed there the whole time, never moving, even during lunch. Other than that, he seemed insane. Mentally, unstably, no doubt about it, insane. I overheard the District Three girl once say to her ally, the boy from Ten, that he had killed twenty seven girls and burned his house down, with his parents and siblings inside. And what's more, I just couldn't get over the fact that five peacekeepers had to constantly be with him as well as him wearing a face muzzle to prevent him from doing something to everyone else.

"I though we decided this an hour ago," Lucifer reminded us. "We take him, and if he causes trouble, there's seven of us and one of him, with weapons." Yeah, that was our plan, take him, and if he's trouble, kill him, just like that. And what did Griffin tell us? Better to have him as an ally than an enemy? Well, I don't think you should have enemies that close to you. It was too close for comfort.

That guy, didn't seem the most trusting of types.

"So who's going to ask him?" Eva asked. "Not I."

"Not I." The rest of the careers, including me, shouted. I sure didn't want to go near him, not with what I heard about him.

"You, new guy," Lucifer said pointing to Arrowe. "Get over there and ask him."

"No way, why should I ask him?" Arrowe said clearly not liking the idea. "I don't want to lose my head, you ask him."

"No way, I did my job provoking District Seven." Lucifer then looked at Griffin. "You big guy, you go ask him." Griffin seemed like the best choice, he was the biggest and the strongest one among us. If anything happened, he'd be the best one to take him on.

"Fine." He said looking at all of us while saying the next words. "Someone come with me." Shoney and Howl then followed behind him as they went towards the knife station.

"You think that those three will be enough is something goes wrong?" Eva asked looking at the three careers going towards the insane psychopath. "I mean, look at the size of Howl, and at the reapings, it took over five peacekeepers to bring that guy down." She was right, remembering the District Three reapings, it took more than five peacekeepers, plus the help of some common people to force that guy down. "All of you, follow me." Eva commanded. Everyone must have been thinking the same thing, because everybody in the career pack was now at the knife training station. Not even Lucifer said anything to Eva.

"Sure, I'll join." The District Three male answered just as Eva, Lucifer, Arrowe and I arrived. Seeing him up close, he was even scarier then he was in the reapings, but I didn't want to show that I was sacred, so I just stood there normally. Not showing any emotion. "After all, this could be the best thing for me. For me. For me. For me." Were we really going to be alright with this guy around us?

I looked at the peacekeepers, and from the looks that they were giving us, they clearly told us that we had no idea with what we were dealing with. Remorse, pity, confusion, those were their expressions. The youngest one looked at us like we were stupid.


	11. Training day 3

**Training day 3 during lunch**

**District Four's Evaline "Eva" Ellery's POV**

"So what are you guys going to show the gamemakers?" I asked my allies. We were at day three of training, the last day to do anything that we missed or wanted to polish up on before the games. Now we were in the lunch room eating and discussing what we were going to show the gamemakers, or how we were going to show them. There was a lot of pressure on us careers to perform well. It was expected of us to be the best, from both sides of the audience.

"I'm going to shoot arrows," Lynsa told us, proud of herself and her ability. "Lots and lots of arrows." Bows and arrows, that was her weapon of choice. She could shoot arrows really fast and very accurately, I wouldn't want to be in front of her if I was an enemy. Or within her sights if she had a bow and arrow in her hands.

"And?" A little girl's voice asked curiously, like she expected something more.

"And? What do you mean and?" Lynsa asked. "I told you what I'm doing, it's not like I can use every weapon that they have to offer." I'd hate to see a tribute be able to use every weapon at their disposal. Even us careers had a weapon that we couldn't use. At least, couldn't use it expertly. Most careers focus on one of two choices, close range, or long range. Most are experts in only one of those sections, though there are some that are good with both.

"Aren't you going to make it interesting?" Howl asked. "I mean, shooting arrows? That's it? Why don't you do a bunch of combat rolls and attack the targets while doing back flips or something?" Great plan, that would certainly make the gamemakers notice you, if you could actually do it.

But I could see her point. The gamemakers would expect more out of us careers other than just something simple. If Lynsa was going to indeed get their attention, then she'd need to do more than just stand around and shoot arrows. As impressive as her skills were, any tribute with practice could compete with her. Even if they weren't as good as her.

"I'll think about it." Lynsa answered, thoughts already going through her head. I then turned to her district partner before asking him the same thing.

"What are you going to do, Griffin?" He was probably going to show off how strong he was with a mace, that seemed to be his best weapon, bludgeoning objects. That and his strength.

"Stuff." Griffin answered simply. Okay, that gave me a clear picture.

"What kind of stuff?" Lucifer asked, also wondering what he was going to do.

"Good stuff." Griffin answered simply again. Well that just made the picture clearer, I thought sarcastically.

Griffin never really talked much. It seemed that he didn't like talking in general, only talking if necessary. He didn't seem the shy type, which I found strange, as it was the first thing that I thought of when he didn't say much. But as I later found out, he wasn't in the least shy about anything else.

Anti-social? Maybe, but he defiantly wasn't shy. He liked to show off, but he didn't brag about it. It was an interesting mix. On one hand, he seemed to want to show that he was great at what he was good at, but on the other hand, he didn't rub it in other people's faces.

Lynsa had said that Griffin was the same way back in District One. Why was that?

"Well I'm doing good stuff too, Griff, but at least I'm still going to say it to the group."

"So what are you doing?" I asked, wondering what Lucifer was going to show.

"I'm going to show them my skills with knives and speed." He answered proudly. Like how Lynsa had.

"Boy," I heard Howl say to Lucifer in a playful, yet arrogant way. "I've got more skills with knives in my pinkie fingernail than you have in your entire body."

"So you throw knives," Lucifer said back not really insulting her, but not exactly being nice either. "Big deal."

"Bet you I can get a higher score than you." Howl challenged with her trademark arrogant smirk.

"You're on." Lucifer quickly accepted. Two knife users, one close range, one long range, both District Two. But one was the youngest you could be while the other was the oldest you could be. Did Howl really have a chance? I think she's too cocky for her own good. Sure she was skilled, but could she beat an eighteen year old who had been practicing for as long as she lived?

"What are you going to do, Shoney?" I asked my district partner, who seemed to have his mind wondering someplace else.

"What do you think would happen if I shoot a dart at a gamemaker?" He asked. The rest of us looked at him like he was crazy. Why would he even think of that? He probably was a little bit crazy.

"You'd die." Lynsa told him bluntly. That seemed to be the truth, attack a gamemaker, pay the price. They'd make your life a living hell in the arena, if not out right kill you.

"Just wondering." Shoney answered like it was nothing. He then turned to us and asked. "So, what were we talking about?" I sighed with some annoyance. He wasn't even paying attention.

"What are you going to show the gamemakers?" I asked before seriously telling him. "Don't even think about shooting something at the gamemakers."

"What's wrong with thinking it?" He asked almost emotionlessly. "It's not like I'm going to do it."

"So in other words, you haven't thought of something good to show them." Lucifer said, reflecting my thoughts.

"Guess not." Shoney answered without even trying to hide it.

"Well anyone that gets a seven or lower gets kicked out of the career pack." Howl announced. "Eight is the minimum to stay in." Eight, the lowest a career could get to stay with the career pack. I had never seen a career get anything lower than an eight on purpose. You'd know if a career was doing it on purpose because they'd get a one or two. Those years were interesting to me, I wondered what had gone through those careers heads. Why didn't they want to join the careers? They had everything they needed, and more. They had food, supplies, protection, everything that you'd need until the end. So why would they compromise it all? Were they like me? They just didn't want to be around people like that? Or was it something else? But that hardly ever happened. And why would they sabotage everything that they had?

I looked at Shoney, who didn't seem worried at all. I saw him talking to another group, the one with the two District Elevens and the orange haired girl, Sami, did he have a plan with them?

"You hear that reaped career?" Lucifer's voice announced to me, interrupting my thoughts of Shoney and the District Eleven alliance. "Eight or higher."

"Yeah yeah, I hear you." I told him, irritated that they were singling me out. They would never let the fact that I was reaped go. "I'll think of something to impress you guys." Though impressing them was the least of my worries.

"See that you do." Lucifer told me before turning to the multi-coloured eyes of Arrowe. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Probably show them my agility." Arrowe answered.

"No weapons?"

"I don't know, maybe."

Getting no more answers of Arrowe, I then felt all heads look towards our newest recruit.

"All that leaves is him." I said looking at the biggest, strongest looking, most insane tribute here. He wasn't even looking at us, in fact, he didn't even seem to be paying attention to anything we were saying. Like usual.

"Don't ask him," A young peacekeeper told us. "He isn't listening, he's in that fucked up world of his right now." What world was that? "And a word to all of you, you all made a big mistake bringing him into the group, especially you little girl." I looked back and Howl, she didn't seem to be too happy to be called little girl. She wasn't worried, just annoyed that she had been called a little girl. For whatever reason.

"There's seven of us and one of him." Lucifer told the young peacekeeper. "How much trouble could it be?"

"You have no idea." The young peacekeeper answered.

**District Seven's Bo Heatherfield's POV**

Sitting alone wasn't that big of a deal to me, in fact, I preferred it that way. I mean, what did people really talk about? How was your day? How are you? I didn't like talking about my day, and people didn't need to know how I was. I mean, I talked to Jimmy sometimes, but that was rarely. Very rare. And when that happened, only a couple of words were exchanged. And the only people that really kind of know me are Luke and Floopy, but that's because they're my cousins or something. I don't say anything because, what do people want to hear? I looked around at all the other tributes, most alone, some in groups. Loners silent, alliances not.

They were probably talking about what to show the gamemakers. How well can you kill? How well can you murder another kid? That was my worst fear, killing someone. And I just couldn't see how kids could kill other kids, or how anyone could kill anyone. I wouldn't let them see that I was a weak kid that they could pick off though, even though I wasn't going to kill them, I was going to scare them. Or at least try too.

District Seven, the home of axe wielders. I was going to show people to be scared of me, so that they would stay away from me, so that I wouldn't have to kill them. I'll hide in the arena and not be spotted by anyone. After all, that's what I'm good at, hiding. I try not to make myself noticed, but then those District Two jerks started to harass me, then that girl from District Ten came into the picture, Life she said she was, and made us the center of attention by picking a fight with District Two. I didn't fight back for a reason, they'd leave eventually. But then you had to help me. When that District Two guy attacked you, and I couldn't just let that happen.

I moved my arms around his neck and pulled him away from you before he could kick you in the face some more. I struggled to hold on to you him, but I held on because I didn't want you to get hurt any more for my sake.

I saw your ally, and was relived that someone was coming to help, because I could see that the little girl from Two was attacking you as well. I was relived, until I got hit across the face so hard I was surprised that I still had all my teeth in my mouth. At the moment, I didn't feel anything, but later, I was happy to still have my teeth.

Your ally came for us, or really, for you. It was okay though, I wasn't important to her, you were.

As she fought the male, you fought the female with as much will as a career. You might have kept on getting hit, but you continued to attack her, not backing off no matter what happened. I found it amazing, but I knew that you couldn't keep it up forever. So I went and helped you, by literally, jumping on the little girl and keeping her down on the floor with my weight.

The struggle didn't end until some mentors broke us up, which thankfully they did before anyone was hurt too badly.

You weren't hurt too badly because of me, and neither was your ally.

Allies, it would be good to have allies. But at the same time, not.

I looked at the bread from my home district and sighed. I missed home, back when life was easier, all I did was hide, work, school, and not draw attention to myself. That's what I planned to do here, hide, work, learn, and not draw attention to myself, but already, things were not going that way. But if I played it right in the arena, I could win without killing a single person.

**A/N: Short chapter is still a short chapter.**


	12. Private session

"**Showing off is the fool's idea of glory." -Bruce Lee**

**Head Gamemaker Philon Basileios's POV**

I couldn't wait to see what the tributes had to show us this year. I was excited to see what they had up their sleeves. For two and a half days the other gamemakers and I watched the tributes train in public. We observed them, took notes, and studied them. I saw lots of potential in this year's tributes. Some of them made an impression on me, good and bad. But now was the big question, were they hiding things from their fellow tributes? Or did they show us everything that they could do?

I took a sip of wine from my clear glass cup and called the first tribute up while also making a mental note to myself, don't drink too much wine. Too much wine made me drunk, obviously, and made me lose focus on the tributes. Most of the other gamemakers often did that and missed out on the good tributes from later districts. It wasn't fair to them because some of them could have pulled off good scores if the gamemakers had paid attention. I did that on my first year of game making, big mistake. I was going to give every tribute a fair seeing. Even if it was only me.

And besides, during my earlier years, I had missed out on some amazing tribute showings because I had been too drunk out of my mind to notice them. I swore to myself that I wouldn't let that happen to me again. It took some time, but after a few years, I found myself able to resist the temptation of free wine. A small price to pay in my mind when watching tributes perform. I think becoming head gamemaker improved my health a little.

First up came District One's Griffin Holloway. Griffin was tall, strong, and an over all good career. Though I had noticed that when he was angry, he was really angry. One tribute learned that the hard way by getting his face beaten with a heavy weight and getting his foot crushed.

Griffin walked into the middle of the room before looking at us, waiting for us to tell him to go forward.

"Show us what you've got." I told him. Griffin then turned and looked at the various weapons at his disposal. I then saw him walk to a barrel full of swords and pull out a big, thick, broad sword. The sword looked weightless in his hands as he tested the sword by swinging it around, cutting the air in front of him. He nodded his head in approval and walked over the some training dummies. He then started to hack and slash the dummies with expert skill.

He slashed their torsos, stabbed them, beheaded them, and took out multiple targets with ease. And not only that, he was slicing some of the training dummies through the tops of their heads and cutting them to almost the bottom of the torso. And to add to that, he also threw in some hand to hand combat by punching and kicking dummies in the face and chest as well as bashing them with the hilt of the sword. He then threw the sword at another training dummy and it wedged deeply into it's chest.

Griffin then ran over and grabbed a bow and some arrows. He loaded up the bow started shooting at the bullseye targets. He wasn't perfect at aiming, but he could pull off some kill shoots with those arrows. I remembered that he didn't go near swords a lot during the two training days, but he had practiced with archery a bit.

Griffin had shot about six targets with the bow and arrows before he announced he was done. I then dismissed him and he walked out the exit before the avoxs cleaned up the training area. As they did that, I took some notes on Griffin and saw the others doing the same. They were doing fine now, but I wondered how well they'd do by the time District Six came. Let alone District Ten and above.

Griffin was an expert in close range combat, strong, and had some skill with a ranged weapon. He had balance, and that would aid him in the arena. But from what I had seen from him, his anger might be his downfall.

Next up, I called in Lynsa Fylar. The golden blond haired girl that had excellent skills with bows and arrows. She was one of the fastest shooters I had ever seen. And she hit the targets either dead on or close enough to dead on as you could get. "You may begin." I told her.

She then instantly headed for the bows and arrows, as expected.

She examined the different kinds of bows before picking a long bow. It was a powerful weapon, if you knew how to, and could, use it. She then selected her arrows before looking down the shooting range. She loaded and arrow, quickly aimed at a target, and fired.

The long bow was powerful, so the arrow went through half of the wooden bullseye, but I could still see that it went in the direct center. Then suddenly, another arrow was fired, followed by another, and another, and another. Lynsa then did a shoulder roll to the right and quickly got to one knee and fired at another target, and hit it dead center, before doing a back roll and shooting at a training dummy and hitting it right in the middle of the head before quickly turning right and shooting another training dummy right between the eyes. She was good, really good. She had done all that in a matter of seconds. Not even twenty seconds had passed and she had done all that. Her aim was quick and true, and she could dodge and fire quickly as well.

Lynsa then placed her weapons down and looked up to us. I looked over to see most of the other gamemakers nodding their heads in approval. "Nicely done," I told her. "You may go now." She then nodded to us before leaving.

Lynsa was a dangerous long range attacker, she was quick, she was accurate, and she was deadly. I wrote down some notes on Lynsa while the avoxs took out the arrows from the targets. Though they were having a hard time because the arrows were wedged in deeply. Long bows had a lot of tension in them, it wasn't an easy to pull the string back.

Lynsa didn't seem like the strongest girl around, so even though she shot that powerful weapon swiftly and accurately just now, I had to wonder if she could do the same when the targets were moving. And when her arms started to tire out due to the power needed to pull the string of the bow.

When the avoxs were done their work, I called in the next tribute, Helena 'Howl' Draconix. Another member of the Draconix family, I thought as I saw her walk in. What would she show us? How would this little twelve year old impress us?

The Draconix family was full of victors or trainers, it wouldn't surprise me if she received at least an eight. She looked up at us and I told her that she may begin. She then looked over at the weapons. She then went over to the weapons, but then passed them. What was she doing? She was going over to, the plant section? What could she want from there?

I then saw her start to mix a brew of plants and other materials into a bowl. After five minutes, she had half a medium size bowl full of black liquid. What was that? And how could it possibly help her?

Helena then selected a bow, not a small bow, but by no means something impressive. I hadn't seen her shoot before, was she any good? She then took three arrows and dipped the tips of the arrows in to the black liquid. Was it poison? Was that black liquid poison?

She then loaded up the bow and shot at some training dummies hitting two in the head and one directly in the heart. She then threw her bow down on the ground and walked over to the throwing knives section. She selected some knives before returning to where she had shot the arrows and dipped the tips of the knives in the black liquid, or perhaps, poison, before throwing them into the heads and hearts or training dummies. When she ran out of knives, she went back to the weapons station and selected a crossbow. She loaded a bolt into it, quickly dipped the tip of the bolt into the black liquid, and fired the bolt right into the center of the bullseye target. She then announced that she was finished. I then told her that she may go. She nodded her head before leaving. As the avoxs walked towards the weapons she had used and thrown, she turned around and announced.

"Oh, by the way, those knives, arrows, and crossbow bolt, are all covered in poison." I knew it. With that known, the avoxs avoided touching the tips of the weapons, in fact, they seemed to not want to touch them at all. But they did it anyway. They had no choice.

Helena "Howl" Draconix, skilled with ranged weapons and poisons. If she could get her hands on the stuff to create that stuff, she wouldn't even need to instantly kill the other tributes. She could just hit them anywhere she wanted, and just wait for them to die. Because I doubted that most tributes would know how to cure themselves of poison. Expect maybe a select few that were smart enough to learn that kind of stuff during the training days.

After the avoxes cleaned up the targets, we asked for our next tribute, Lucifer Despar, to come on in. This District Two boy interested me, even though he had some kind of muscular body, he didn't seem to be as strong as he looked. Instead, he was fast, the fastest I had seen people run. I'm guessing his muscles were more speed than strength based. He stood in the center of the room before I told him.

"Begin." Then before our eyes, he quickly sprinted to the knives and picked up two of them before sprinting to a group of training dummies. He ran into the middle of the pack. Now he was surrounded by five dummies with him in the center. He then quickly slashed at a dummy's torso with one knife before stabbing the dummy to the right of it with the other. He then back kicked the dummy directly behind him in the torso causing it to fall to the floor. Lucifer then retracted the knives from their torsos before moving his body to the left, as if to dodge an attack, then twisted to the right and slashed a dummy in the neck before rolling to the left. While he was rolling, he slashed a dummy's legs before quickly getting to his feet and stabbing it in the back of the head. Lucifer then ran to the fallen dummy that he had kicked and stomped on it's head before throwing both his knives at the two dummies that he had attacked first, at close range, hitting them both in the head. Lucifer then lifted his foot up again and crushed the fallen dummy's neck.

"And that's how it's done!" He shouted to us. He was fast and good at close range combat.

"Good job," I told him "you may go." And with that, he sprinted out of the room in less then two seconds. He was very fast, no doubt about it. His speed and skill could get him far in the game. Hopefully his speed and skill would make up for his lack of strength, for an older career.

Taking a bite of roast ham, I thought about the next tribute, Zap 'Tharizdun' Philistone. I read his file when training day one started. Unstable, psychopathic, uncaring, and more. He believed himself to the incarnation of a chained god of evil and insanity, Tharizdun. I couldn't help but wonder how someone could even think of themselves as something as that. Was that how he saw himself? As evil and insane? As a god?

I found the whole thing almost laughable. He was a human, like the rest of us.

"Send him in." I told the peacekeepers escorting him.

He always had five peacekeepers by his side, but for now, the peacekeepers would wait out by the exit, this was supposed to be private after all, and the only way you could be in here with us and the tributes is if you got clearance by either me or the president. I told the president that we'd be fine with the barrier protecting us and she had no problem with leaving that guy unguarded. The peacekeepers didn't like that, but they had to obey, it was their job to obey.

I got the avoxs to come behind the barrier so that they wouldn't be in danger as well.

I saw Zap look around, probably amazed that they left him alone with no peacekeepers around. "You may begin." I told him hoping that he wouldn't try to insanely attack us. But all I saw him do was walk over to the knifes and pick out one at random. He held it in his right hand and walked calmly over to a set of training dummies. And what he did simply amazed me, I thought that he'd attack them in rage. But the way he attacked them was highly skilled, he stabbed with precision and expertly cut down the dummies. He then picked up the last dummy by the neck, with one hand, his left hand, and threw it at another set of dummies that were about fifty feet away. Those training dummies weighed about fifty pounds each, and he effortlessly threw one ten feet with one hand. I then looked at the dummies that he had slashed and stabbed, some of them were ripped in half by the knife that he used, almost as much as the dummies that Griffin had cut up with a sword.

There was no doubt about it, he had strength.

"Now watch this." Zap said through his metal mask. I wondered what was behind that mask of his. I then saw him turn the knife around, and stab himself in the stomach, not once, not twice, but three times. I gasped at what I saw, but other gamemakers screamed out in fright and confusion, and some even dropped what they were holding. He attacked himself, and didn't even shout out or anything. "I feel no pain." He told us before dropping the bloody knife to the floor. He didn't even look fazed by it. Blood ran from his wounds before he started to walk out of the room like nothing happened.

By the time the shock wore off me, he was gone. Holy hell, that guy was beyond anything I had ever seen before. He was strong, skilled, and immune to pain. His file said that he was insane, and unstable, but you couldn't deny that he was someone that could put to use what skills he had.

As the avoxs cleaned the area of blood and torn dummies, I quickly wrote down my thoughts before calling in the next tribute, the twelve year old from his district.

In came Nessa Christine Johnston, the reaped twelve year old. She didn't look like she belonged in the games, but, what could she do? She was reaped. She couldn't get out of this unless she either died or won the game. She looked right at us as I told her.

"You may begin." She then looked around rather quickly, like she was trying to get rid of extra energy stored up in her. She then ran towards a coil of rope and began to tie the rope into something. She tied it on metal poles and tied knots on it. Around ten minutes later, she came up with what I'd guess was a trap of some sort. She then ran over to the nearest training dummy before she started to drag it. Or, at least, she tried to. She had a hard time getting the training dummy to go anywhere. When it fell down, she decided to pull on it, but it didn't go any better then it had last time. Little by little, it moved toward the trap that she had created. She grunted a lot as she slowly got the dummy to where she wanted to get it, and my that time, she was sweating all over. I made a note of how, as expected, she wasn't very strong.

"Finally." I heard her wheeze. "Stupid thing, why do you have to be so heavy." She said bitterly. She then, with great effort, lifted it to it's feet, only to push it into the rope's path and send it dangling in the air suspended by its feet. That was some good stuff for a twelve year old. It would come handy in the arena when she has to hunt for food. "Okay!" I heard her call to us. "I'm done!"

"Okay then," I called back to her. "You can go then." She then quickly walked to the door and left. The avoxs then cut down the trap and placed the dummy back to its original position before I called in the next tribute.

Nessa was a little better than your average twelve year old. She knew how to make traps, something that most twelve year olds wouldn't have even tried to learn, or it they did, couldn't learn properly. Most of the time. But like every twelve year old I had ever seen, she was weak. She wouldn't stand a chance against the older tributes.

And there was that energy of hers. She had a strange combination of hyperactivity and low stamina. If strength wasn't her downfall, her lack of stamina would possible bring her down.

The next tribute to enter was Evaline Ellery, but she seemed to prefer being called Eva. She was the only reaped career this year. But that didn't mean anything in the long run, the important thing to ask was, was she good? In training she seemed to be your average career. Nothing fantastic, but she wasn't lame, that was for sure.

"Show us your stuff." I told her.

She then went over to the knives and also grabbed a whip along the way. Interesting, not many tributes used whips. She then headed over to some training dummies before stabbing away at them. She stabbed some of the dummies in the torsos before throwing a couple of knives at some dummies a fair distance away, hitting them. She then used the whip to grab another knife from out of her reach and bring it towards her. She flicked the whip that had a knife at its tip, and the knife flew towards her before she caught it with her right hand. She then stabbed a dummy in the head before using the whip to slash a dummy in the chest behind her. Impressive work. She used the whip as support and a weapon.

She then dropped her weapons and we told her that she could leave now, and she did. I took some notes before taking a sip of wine and calling in the next District Four tribute.

Even though Eva was reaped, she wasn't to be under estimated.

In walked in Shoney Germoal. During training, I didn't see anything really that impressive about him, but he was a different kind of career in my opinion. He asked for alliances outside the career pack, he didn't harass the other tributes, but he did fight when it came down to it. He was all over the place.

"You may begin." I told him.

"You know what I learned?" He asked, and before anyone could say anything he continued. "I learned that some plants look the same, but they have totally different effects." Looks like it wasn't really a question to be answered. "And that a shelter made out of only leaves and twigs can be as good as a tent? Or that you can start eating yourself if you're hungry enough? Or that you can make tea out of pine needles?"

He then started to say all the survival techniques that he had seen or heard from trainers or other tributes. Then he started to say what he learned about the weapons in the training center and voiced his opinion on them. Somewhere between sword thrusting and dart throwing, I looked around to see that some of the gamemakers had started to drink their wine. They didn't want to hear tributes talking, they wanted to see tributes doing. I, on the other hand, thought that it was interesting. You don't always win by combat.

When Shoney was done talking, he then ran towards a group of dummies and slid beneath them before swing around another and doing a U-turn and showing other ways do dodge attacks. He then ran to a far corner of the room and jumped into a large flower vase. And I don't know wither to be more surprised to see him go into it or that the flower vase didn't break. It looked too small for someone to fit into. Looks like he was nimble, and could turn his body awkwardly to fit into tight spaces. Places to hide, which wasn't bad, sometimes you had to run. That, and it gave the audience a chance to see them fight another day. "Uhhh," I heard him say from the vase. "This vase is smaller then I thought." I saw a couple of avoxs run towards the vase and tip it over. I then saw that Shoney had his arms and legs twisted in odd angles. But he managed to hide in a vase that I thought that he might have never managed to even fit into. The avoxs pulled him out easily before he got his body back to normal and looked up at us. "I'm okay."

"Is that all?" I asked wondering if he had anything else we should worry about. He then walked over to the knives, picked on up, and stabbed a dummy in the head.

"I know how to kill just so you know." He said before he walked towards the exit. "Just so you know." He said when he stopped at the door.

"Okay," I told him, thinking that he made his point. "You may go." Then he was out. Well that was strange.

He was a career more focused on the survival aspects rather than the weapons, something out of the norm for careers. Maybe he was planning something with that knowledge. Perhaps it had something to do with the District Eleven and Seven girl alliance?

Next up was the red eyed, white haired albino of District Five, Alexander Natas. He had his hair cut before the chariot tour began, that meant that we could see both his red eyes. In both those eyes, all I could see was hatred in them. I looked up with his intense stare and I could hear some of the other gamemakers muttering how much of a freak he was. I didn't say anything though, I had to remain the professional one of the group. Which, as I found out, was really easy actually.

"You may-" I started, but then I saw him run towards the knifes and pick out one of the most deadly looking ones we offered before running over to a training dummy. The albino then half jumped, half tackled the dummy to the ground. When the dummy slammed to the ground, Alexander positioned himself on the dummy and began to stab the dummy violently. The stuffing then began to fly up into the air with reach, retract, and thrust. Soon the material began raining down on the albino.

He continued to do that for nearly ten minutes, and by that time, the dummy was nothing but a hollow shell, and that was an overstatement, there wasn't even a body left, everything was ripped to pieces the size of my palm or smaller. The boy, out of breath and sweating like mad, then stood up and threw the knife to the ground before I shouted. "You can go!"

"Fine!" He shouted before storming off. That boy had anger issues, but he sure could murder. The only other thing that he seemed to be good at was pissing people off, even if it was just that peacekeeper. But through that, it seemed to of caused a riff between the group of peacekeepers.

After the avoxs cleaned up the violent mess, I called in the next tribute, Valerie Snake. I hadn't seen anything impressive from her, she was an average tribute, but she might surprise us.

"You may begin." I told her. She then went over to the knife section and started to stab a training dummy. And very badly might I say. She hadn't stabbed with the skill of Eva or Lucifer, but she also didn't powerfully do it like her district partner did. She made no impressions on us when she left.

We then called in the District Six girl, Rayne Page. The multi-blond haired girl walked in here with an air of confidence, but I doubt the others would see that, because they were now starting to drink even more. The careers were done with, they didn't think that anyone else would be interesting. They weren't drunk, not yet, but they were buzzed.

"You may begin." I told her. I then saw her look towards the sword section. Hmmm, interesting, her being mostly good with knives, but I never saw her go towards the swords during training. She walked towards the barrel of swords and began digging through the barrel. Was she looking for a pacific kind of sword? My question was answered when I saw her pull out a Kukri. One and a half feet long and curved a little more then half way through. That was an odd weapon for a tribute to use.

She then examined the weapon before throwing it at a group of training dummies. The kukri sliced through a dummies neck as Rayne was quickly running towards the group of dummies. She then punched on dummy in the face before her weapon boomeranged back to her. She caught the handle of the weapon before slicing the dummy she punched. She then twisted the handle, now holding the weapon backwards, and stabbed the dummy behind her repeatedly. She then retracted the blade from the dummy's torso and gave a sharp one-eighty turn and sliced though it's neck before turning to the right and started to climb up a thick piece of rope while still holding the weapon. She then used one hand to throw the weapon through the top of a dummy's head while being suspended thirty feet in the air. She then slide down the rope before landing on the ground and pushing the dummy with the weapon in the crown of it's head over. The dummy crashed to the ground and all I could think of was, this girl was impressive. She was like a career with that weapon. "You may leave now." I told her. She nodded before leaving the room.

I looked to the other gamemakers and saw that they were impressed to. I then saw an avox standing by the door holding his hand out like he wanted something. She then sighed and handed over a knife. Did she steal it? How? Wouldn't I of noticed it?

While wondering that, I sent the avoxs to clean up the mess.

Next tribute that came up was Ricky Coler. I don't remember too much about him, he just seemed to slip my mind every time. Then when he came in, I saw his pale skin and his almost black eyes. Oh yeah, now I remember who he was. That still didn't mean that I remembered much of him.

"You may begin." I told him. Ricky then went over to the spear section and started to spear dummies at midrange. He wasn't good, but he wasn't bad either. Average was all I could say. When he was done, he had mostly stabbed the dummies in the torso, but a few lucky shots got to the head as well. "You may go." I told him before he left. There wasn't much for the avoxs to clean up this time.

Next came in District Seven's Bo Heatherfield. As far as I could see from him, he hadn't uttered a single word during the three days we observed him.

"Whenever you're ready." I told him. I then saw him immediately go towards the axes. When he got to the weapons he picked up a couple of hatchets before walking over to a group of dummies. Then he started to chop off the dummies head to ease using his duel hatchets and before long, there were five dummy heads rolling before his feet. He then quickly turned to two bullseye targets and threw the axes at them. They both hit the bullseyes, blades first.

Bo, he was from District Seven, so I shouldn't have expected anything less, but during training, he did mostly survival stations and tried some archery. I looked down at my notes and saw that he never even went near the axes. Maybe he didn't need to, as he was from the lumber district and it was expected that he work in some kind of wood work trade.

I looked up and said. "You may-" But he was already out the door. Okay then. I then told the avoxs to clean up the mess that was made in nearly sixty seconds.

He was effective with axes, but if it ever came down to fighting, I don't think he'd make it far. He seemed unwilling to fight. Sure there was that time where he jumped on Helena, but that wasn't so much as fight as it was pinning someone to the ground.

He allowed people to push him around, and when he somehow did come up with the will to defend himself, I could see that he didn't really want to hurt anyone. That unwillingness to hurt people will end up getting him killed.

Still, the scoring wasn't about tribute mentality, it was for their display of skill and whatever else they decided to show us. The examining of them during training days also factored, but only exteriorly. It was a waste really, because in previous games, I had seen tributes just like him. Skilled, got high scores, but were unwilling to kill.

The scoring was outdated in my opinion.

When the avoxs were done their work, I called in the next tribute, Sami Lavisa. I looked at my notes as she walked in. She didn't seem to be much of a threat when she was training, but she could have just been hiding her abilities. I looked up from my notes to see her waiting for me to tell her to start.

"You may begin." I told her. I then saw her walk towards the bows and arrows before selecting a standard sized bow. She then looked over and I saw another thing catch her eye. She grabbed some arrows before walking over to some dart shooters and some darts. She then slung the dart shooter over her shoulder and placed the darts into her pockets before looking back at us. I looked back to her to see what she was planning on doing.

I looked over to see that the other gamemakers were less enthusiastic. They had started to drink again.

I looked back to Sami and shook my head telling her to continue. She then turned back to a group of dummies and shot them with her arrows. She wasn't that fast, but she was accurate. Managing to hit the targets, but not a bulls eye. The others, unfortunately, had seen Lynsa's abilities, and to them, this was nothing.

She then walked over to a ladder made of rope and started to climb up it. Then while hanging from the ladder, she pulled out her dart shooter and shot at the dummies. She then climbed up higher and shot at them with arrows and darts. It wasn't the best thing, but it was still good. She climbed down the ladder and I told her that she could go. She nodded before going out.

Even though Sami wasn't as display as her district partner, I had a better feeling about her than him. Even though I had never seen her fight, I had a feeling that she was more willing to murder than Bo. so even though she was going to get a lower score than him, I'd rather put my money on her than Bo any day.

Next up was District Eight, and this was going better then expected, the other gamemakers weren't drunk, at least not yet, but they were getting there.

I called in the next tribute, December Juliet Varen, also known as Ember. Bit of bad luck for her to see her father here, but there was nothing that could be done about that. I thought of the chain of events that had to happen for it to happen, and found it amazing that it had actually happened. I mean, what were the odds of any of that happening.

I saw her standing there looking at us before I said. "Begin when you're ready." She then walked over to the throwing knives and picked up six of them. She then turned towards six bullseye targets and started to throw them. She was better than normal tributes, but she still wasn't as good as the careers. Her knives struck the target, but it wasn't center. And for that, the gamemakers didn't pay that much attention, but I could hear some slight clapping from some. But that still didn't mean that they were impressed. They were just glad that she could still the right end of the blade into the wood. "You may go now." I told her, and she did.

If she was going to rely on throwing knives, I hoped that she could do some close ranged combat, because once all the knives were thrown, what else could she do but fight or run? If she ran, she'd have no weapons on her.

The next tribute was Dave Anders. Again, he was one of those kids that didn't make an impression on me. And I was right, when I told him to begin, all I saw him do was stab some dummies with a knife. It wasn't skilled or clean or anything, it was just stabbing. But it was expected for a non-career tribute.

"You may go." I told him before he left.

Dav, during the training days, didn't even seem to put in an effort to learn anything. He was big, but he was more round than he should be. Lazy. That's a good way to sum him up. He was a bloodbath for sure.

After the avoxs cleaned up his mess I called in the next tribute, Arrowe Winter. The boy with one black eye and one bright green eye looked up at us and had a look on his face that looked like he wanted to impress us.

"You may begin." I told him. And immediately, he ran towards the rope ladder and began climbing it with ease. He climbed it to the top and jumped onto the overhead chandler above, just catching the one of the lower rings with his fingers. Wow, this kid was crazy. If he had missed, well, let's just say he might not be in the best shape to enter the arena. Assuming he survived the fall.

Arrowe then climbed the lighting chain and climbed up to the steel beam that was supporting the chandler, stood up on it, and balanced on it. He then started to run to the other side of the room while balancing on the steel beam, balancing like an expert while not seeming to care that one miss step meant disaster.

When he reached the end, he grabbed the top of a thick, tall plant and jumped off the steel beam that was over fifty feet up in the air. If it weren't for the plant, he'd be dead, but the plant slowed him down as it bent and the top descended to the floor. But I thought that the plant was going to snap in half, and that almost worried me, because if it did snap, what would become of Arrowe?

When he was about ten feet off the ground, he let go of the plant and landed on the ground, hard. While the plant snapped back in place, Arrowe shoulder rolled forwards before running to a group of training dummies and showed a bunch of ways to dodge attacks. If he wasn't dodging, then he was just running around doing a much of random moves on his feet. I was impressed with his abilities. I looked over to the others, they were still recovering from him falling from the ceiling. They faces were full of disbelief and fear. I laughed happily and said that he may leave now. He looked up, smiled, and left. And for once today, the avoxs didn't need to clean up anything.

Arrowe by far was the craziest and perhaps bravest tribute that had came in this room today. Crazy in a different way from the likes of Tharizdun, but crazy neither the less. He was agile and seemed to want to challenge himself. But would his thrill seeking go too far in the arena? I had to wonder.

I then called in the next tribute, Talliana Messine. I had seen her all around the training stations, what was she going to show us? She stood in the middle of the room before I told her.

"You may begin."

"Begin what?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned around quickly, wondering if someone was trying to scare me. There was nobody behind me. "What are you looking at?" A voice asked to my right. I quickly looked there and saw the other gamemakers looking there, just as confused as I was. "Over here!" A voice shouted at the far left side of the room. I looked over there, to see nobody over there either. I looked at Talliana and saw that she hadn't moved from the center of the room. She was smiling as well, like she was about to laugh. Okay, this was a little creepy. "Is there something I'm missing there?" Her voice asked, like it was inches away from me.

It was then that I knew what she was doing, she was throwing her voice. It was a good talent, and it could be useful in the arena. She could trick her opponents, make them go to the places that she wanted them to go. She could make them walking into a trap, or if she needed to, she could use her voice to escape.

"Nothing." I told her impressed with her and her ability. "You may go now."

"Thanks." She said with her voice inches away from me. She then left.

Up next was District Ten's Life Lee. She walked in looking both determined and angry. I wondered why.

"You may begin." I told her. When I finished my sentence, I saw her go towards the axes. That seemed to be the weapon that she was best at, every other weapon she held fell short of the axe.

I saw her pick up an axe before going over to a training dummy. When she was inches away from the dummy, I saw her look at the dummy, sigh, then she practically butchered the training dummy. She severed the arms, the head, the legs, she ripped apart the torso with the axe sending parts of it flying through the air. She was quick and effective with that weapon. She was like Alexander with that axe. But she only destroyed the dummy for only a little while before stopping. I then saw her shake her head before turning towards us.

"I could do this all day to something like this!" She shouted to us. "But to a tribute though, this is just too damn cruel! My mama taught me better then this." Strange I thought. Considering that she ran up and willingly fought with Colin, Lucifer, and Helena.

"You're dismissed." I told her, and she left. She was a kind of strange girl, wonder if she'd really not kill anyone? Probably not, she'd kill, she was just trying to hide that she was a fighter. Did want to think that she could really hurt people.

When the avoxs were done cleaning up, I asked for the next tribute, Max Starling. Other then Nessa and Helena, he was the youngest tribute in the games. Like Life, he seemed to be good with axes.

"Okay, you may begin." Max then walked over to the axes and picked up a good sized axe. He then, with some difficulty, went to some training dummies and started to attack the dummies. But from the way he swung it, the axe was too big and heavy for him. He didn't seem to be doing too much to the dummies. He did some heavy damage, but he was slow and clumsy. He should have used the hatchets instead, they would have been more effective.

After a few minutes, I told him that he could go. He wasn't doing too much. He dropped the axe and left before the avoxs started to clean up. I noticed that the other gamemakers were starting to get drunk at long last.

The display with Max probably had something to do with it. Max didn't seem like the smartest tribute ever, but at least he didn't talk constantly, like he had in the training center. I think his ally, Nessa, found him almost as annoying as some of my fellow gamemakers when he opened his mouth. Lord help the interviewer this year.

The next tribute up here was Aerin Sevani. He was an interesting person, he was too nice to really be in the games, but I could be wrong, people hide emotions and true intentions. After all, he had practically wiped the floor with Colin, injuring him enough to get him medical attention. And then there were his reapings. He had to be searched for. I couldn't help but wonder what that was all about.

"You may begin." I told him. He then went over to a scythe. A scythe, hadn't seen anyone use that in a while. I saw Aerin effortlessly pick up the huge weapon, walk over to a group of training dummies, and started hacking at them. He was severing heads and limbs with his slices and he also cut the torsos deeply. He was skilled with that scythe, and strong too, but not as strong as Zap or Griffin. But Aerin was only fourteen, so it was to be expected.

I was taking an interest in his skill, but I could see about half the other gamemakers were kind of drunk and not paying as much attention as they should be. It made me glad that I wasn't in their current state of mind. When he was done destroying the training dummies, he placed the scythe down looked up at us. I was impressed. He may be young, but he was skilled and strong. "You can go now." I told him. He nodded before exited the room. The avoxs cleaned up before I called in the next District Eleven tribute, Angel Hale.

Angel walked in looking ready to show off her skills, and I could tell that the longer the waiting went, the less likely the other gamemakers would pay attention to her, no matter how good she was.

"Begin." I simply told her. She then walked over to the throwing knives and began throwing the knives. She wasn't as good as Helena or Evaline, not even close. While she threw the knives and managed to hit the targets, only one of the ten knives that she threw managed to stab into the target. I had to wonder why she choose this as something she wanted to show. Throwing knives were hard to use properly, and weren't something that you learned easily. December was an exception, because like everything, there are always exceptions. Rare, but there.

I could hear one of the gamemakers to my right slurping his wine loudly, and I had to restrain myself from telling him to quiet down.

She then walked over to the bows and arrows and started to shoot them at the targets. She still wasn't as good as Lynsa or Helena, but she, again, could still hit the targets.

When she was done, I told her that she could leave. The avoxs then cleaned up the knives and arrows before I asked the next tribute to come in.

Now in walked in the second last tribute, Evanlyn Scott. She had mostly worked on the survival stations and not much with the weapons, but fighting didn't always lead to victory. And she seemed to be a fast learner at that.

"Let's see what you got." I told her. And unlike most of the other tributes before her, she ran towards the rope ladder. I wondered if she was doing another Arrowe stunt. I looked at the other gamemakers to see what they were thinking, but I might of well not have bothered, most of them were now too drunk to notice anything. Even if she pulled off another Arrowe, she would no doubt get much less attention. If she got any at all.

I looked back to Evanlyn and saw that she was already half way up the rope ladder. And now she was turning her body until she was upside down on the ladder. She then began climbing down on it upside down. That was some skill. And when she got to the bottom of the ladder, she did a half back flip and landed on her feet before running over to the table holding all the spears and agilely jumped over it before shoulder rolling and sliding underneath a training dummy close by. She was agile, and good on her feet, something that could come in handy later.

She then stood up on her feet and looked up to us, and she was done. I'm surprised that she didn't show off her camouflage skills, she was really good at it during training. "You may go." I told her before she headed off.

Evanlyn might be in the younger years, but I'm guessing she knew what she was doing. She didn't try to show off with weapons, she showed us that she was agile, which might of been better. She didn't seem to be the strongest girl this year, so her agility would probably help her more than anything else. Besides her smarts.

The last tribute was Colin Aldrin. And he, in no way, made any impressions on me while training. He wasn't strong, fast, or skilled at anything as far as I could see. When he walked in, I didn't see him as much of a threat to the other tributes. And he was a laughing stalk of all the tributes due to him getting defeated so early on. Before the games even started.

"You may begin." I told him knowing that all the other gamemakers were most likely too wasted to even know what was going on, or else they weren't paying attention anymore. I then saw Colin walk towards the swords. Huh, this could be interesting. Maybe he could actually do something.

He grabbed a sword handle and pulled out a sword, only to send the rest of the swords to the ground. He had some how knocked over the barrel and spilt the swords to the ground. I held in a sigh as he walked over to a group of training dummies, only to bump into almost every other object on the way.

He had a bad sense of direction, that much was obvious.

When he finally got to the training dummies, all he did was swing around his sword randomly. Sometimes, he even missed his target. It pained me to see this.

"You may go." I told him, just wanting to save myself from the sight of him doing whatever he was doing. He dropped his sword, and clumsily made his way his way out.

Thank God that was over.

I looked over to my fellow gamemakers, and let out the built up sigh I had been containing. They were blasted, pure and simple. I saw empty wine bottles scattered around the table, and they were protecting those empties like crazy. I don't think they knew that they were empty. Some of them looked like they wanted to pass out.

Of the ten of us, I think only myself, and three others were in any shape to be grading the tributes.

I drank my wine and thought of how much trouble it was going to be to work with these people.

Okay, time to score the tributes.

**A/N: Changed some things, changed the scores some, yeah. Oh hey, look at that, interviews in two chapters. Great...**


	13. Scores

**"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein**

**District Two's Helena "Howl" Draconix's POV**

"What kind of score do you think you got, girl?" My district partner, Lucifer, asked me. I looked at him and gave him a smile that told him exactly what I thought.

"One that's better than yours. Remember our bet?"

"Yeah, I remember." He replied calmly. "But I still think I'll win." In your dreams. I poisoned the weapons and used them like a master, there was no way that he could beat the score I was going to get. You could match it maybe, but you couldn't beat it.

My sister and mentor, Elektra, flicked on the T.V in front of us. They were getting ready to announce the tribute scores, so we had shown up just in time for us to see what we had gotten.

"What do you think you kids got?" Our male mentor, a guy named Perseus Maddox, asked us as he fell on the large bright blue sofa to our right. Unlike my sister who planned out her strategy in the games and used her smarts and looks to her advantage in the arena, this guy's only plan was stab a tribute, stab another tribute, and stab some more tributes. That was a simple, but almost non-existent plan. If you could even call it a plan. If he tires to tell me a strategy for the arena, I'll just ignore him. I had a feeling it was kill, kill, and kill some more.

"Something good." Lucifer answered confidently. "One of the best maybe." Of course, we were careers, we'd get the best scores. After all, this is what we trained for.

"Something better than him." I said, pointing to Lucifer.

"We'll see girl." He replied. He wasn't worried at all, but he should be. We then turned to the screen and saw a picture of Griffin get shown before a number nine appeared below his picture. A nine, I expected as much. Him being a brute, much like Perseus, was probably why he didn't get a ten.

Next they showed Lynsa's picture before flashing her score of ten. A ten, that suited her, her archery was first rate. I think she took my advice and put in combat rolls to make her look even better than she already was. It had to be the case, otherwise I bet they'd of given her a nine, like her muscle brained partner.

They then showed Lucifer's picture before showing his score, a nine. "Nine." He said to me proudly. I tisked at him. Don't get ahead of yourself, we haven't seen what I've gotten yet. My picture then showed up before flashing a better score.

"Ten." I told him proudly. I had beaten him, just as I expected. "I win."

"Whatever," He said like it didn't bother him. "I didn't even try that hard."

"Neither did I." I told him. But the truth was, I did try, very hard. But I couldn't let him know that. Even if we were both lying, I still wanted to be the one that could talk him down.

I then saw our District Three ally, the giant. His picture showed him wearing his face muzzle, and he looked pissed, very. And below his picture, it showed that he scored an eleven. An Eleven!? That guy got a score better than us!?

"How?" Lucifer asked looking at the screen in disbelief. "How did he-" He said before he stopped mid sentence, unable to continue.

How was that possible? This guy was big and strong sure, but he didn't have any skills like us, did he? Griffin got a nine. If anything, this guy should have gotten a seven, or an eight, tops. How in the world did he get a fucking eleven?

"Good thing he's an ally and not an enemy, right?" Perseus asked. Yeah, guess it was good that he wasn't an enemy, for now. Next it showed that other twelve year old girl who people were feeling sorry for. I was twelve, and I volunteered, she shouldn't be crying, whining, or anything. And people shouldn't be giving her sympathy either. If all you needed to do to get sponsors was to cry and be young, it would make those that deserved those sponsor gifts go down a path that shouldn't be gone down. After all, it would look pathetic if a career, who had trained all their life, started to cry. Only for the sponsor gifts to go to whiny, crying kids that acted more like babies. Stupid. Anyone who gave her sympathy, was stupid.

She scored a six, a little better than average. Then up next was Shoney who scored an eight.

"Think reaped career girl will do fine?" Lucifer asked still looking at the screen.

"Probably not." I told him. Evaline was reaped, that meant she probably didn't train as well as us. And I was right, she didn't score as well as the majority of us, but she still got an eight. Well, she can hide behind our safety, for now.

Next, they showed that dumb girl from Five. She scored a two. Not surprising, she was probably too dumb to show them something worth while. Next came the red eyed freak. He scored a five, the average score for a tribute. There was nothing special about him, just his looks.

Then came the pale boy from Six. I don't even remember much of him. He scored a three. After him came that girl that Lucifer fought against, and won by default. Her multi blond hair flashed on screen before her score appeared. A ten.

What!? She had a score as good as mine!? How? That scrawny girl couldn't possible do anything like us careers. What had she done? She didn't deserve that score, she couldn't even hold herself against Lucifer.

"You've got some competition this year." Perseus told us. Not if I kill her in the bloodbath we won't.

Next came District Seven. The boy that Lucifer pushed around got an eight, even though he was a wimp. And the orange haired girl scored a six.

"Forget about that guy from Seven," Lucifer chuckled. "He might have shown some skill, key word might have, but we all know what he really is."

"He might be hiding his true abilities." My sister explained. "After all, he might have the skills to be a challenge, and will show them in the arena."

"No." I told my sister. "He's a wimp. He didn't even try to fight back or anything. If you were there sis, you would have seen that in his eyes was fear. He feared us, like he should. He's not a fighter, he had to have a couple of bitches come and save his sorry ass."

"Didn't he defeat you by sitting on you or something?" Lucifer laughed, causing me to glare at him. I didn't like him bringing that up. It made me look weak, and in front of my own sister no less.

"He got lucky." I grumbled.

District Eight came next. That fat boy scored a three while that curly haired girl scored a seven.

Now for our District Nine ally. His picture flashed before they showed a nine. He was useful, defiantly useful. The girl did good, but not as well as him with a seven.

The little District Ten boy didn't do as well as the other young girl, his ally, as he scored a five. The girl did slightly better with a seven. Unlike the District Seven boy, I think she deserved her score, because unlike him, she was willing to fight.

The boy tribute from Eleven scored good a score with an eight while the girl was less impressive with a five. Shame that he wasn't with us, but it was his loss. He wouldn't be safe from us once he got in the arena. He'll learn his mistake soon enough.

The last district, Twelve, was pitiful as usual. The boy scored a one, and Lucifer laughed out loud when he saw what the fat boy scored. He laughed like it was the funniest thing he ever saw, and I couldn't blame him, it had been a while since a one had been scored. The girl did good for someone from twelve though, a five.

"What do you think sis?" Elektra asked me as she turned off the T.V. All and all, most of the tributes were better then what you'd normally get in the games. I mean, how in the world did this year get so many tributes getting on the better side of five? Did they purposely rig the reapings of the non-career districts to get better than average tributes? That multi blond bitch scored a ten while lots of other tributes got six or higher. But still.

"Nothing we can't handle." I told her smiling confidently. Because even though they got good training scores, we'd still have the advantage in the arena.

The District Three girl was only twelve with an annoying kid as her ally. Even if I ran into them alone, I knew that it would be easy to get rid of them.

The District Five girl was stupid and the District Five guy didn't seem all that strong, or skilled.

The District Six girl was probably all show and her partner was no threat. Same with the District Seven pair who seemed scared of their own shadows.

Really, the only threats were from those within our alliance, and Aerin. That was it.

They might have gotten better scores than normal, but they were still the same non-careers that would fall before us.

**Scores:**

**District 1**

Griffin: 9

Lynsa: 10

**District 2**

Lucifer: 9

Helena: 10

**District 3**

Zap: 11

Nessa: 6

**District 4**

Shoney: 8

Evaline: 8

**District 5**

Alexander: 5

Valerie: 2

**District 6**

Ricky: 3

Rayne: 10

**District 7**

Bo: 8

Sami: 6

**District 8**

Dav: 2

December: 7

**District 9**

Arrowe: 9

Talliana: 7

**District 10**

Max: 5

Life: 7

**District 11**

Aerin: 8

Angel: 5

**District 12**

Colin: 1

Evanlyn: 5

**A/N: Oh hey, look at that, interviews are next.**

**After interviews are two or three more chapters until the bloodbath. Then I can start messaging the people who originally submitted their tributes! **


	14. Interviews

**"I've become wary of interviews in which you're forced to go back over the reasons why you made certain decisions. You tend to rationalize what you've done, to intellectually review a process that is often intuitive." -Peter Weir**

**Interviews**

**Capitol's Cassiu Lisette's POV**

"I'm guessing that since you didn't come to me for help, you got advice from Bastion about your interview." All Griffin did was shrug, as I had kind of expected, so just focused on making some last minute adjustments to his interview outfit, wanting it to look well. Everything seemed to be right and tidy and working. It was sure to capture some attention from the audience.

Griffin on the other hand, I didn't know if he'd make the same kind of catch that the outfit was going to. I wouldn't say that I'm arrogant about my outfit, but I knew what the people liked, and this was something that they'd like. I liked Griffin, but was he going to make an impression on the Capitol through the interview? Sure he was someone that they could bet on, but they only knew him for his strength and ability to fight. If Griffin could give them a speech that moved them, then maybe he could get many more sponsors and actually win.

That was the trouble with this part of the game, tributes that looked like they were going to get all the sponsors could lose them to someone else because they had a story behind them. Or an angle that they liked. Or because the audience suddenly liked someone else better because of their interview.

Griffin didn't seem like a talker, and that worried me. I would hate for him to lose the sponsors that he had worked for. After all, the silent angle had been played out, and while some still did it, it didn't have the impact that it used to. And also, it took a certain type of person to pull it off. I knew Griffin could, but it wasn't the best that he could do.

With the clothing inspection complete, I had one last thing to give him, something that would make him even more noticeable. "Open your mouth." I told him, and he obeyed. I then inserted a thin, clear, almost invisible device that would attach to the upper part of his teeth as soon as he bit down. "Now bite down." I instructed. He did what I told him, and I heard the device snap in place. A perfect fit.

Now to see if the thing works. "Smile for me." He did as he was told and smiled. When he smiled, the device in his mouth gave out a tiny star shaped shine that lasted for a whole second. Perfect, it works. "Everything seems to be in order." I told him as I looked at that rope necklace of his.

The thing was totally out of place with the suit that I had given him, but he refused to give it up. He didn't even seem to want people near it. I tried to get it off of him once, only for Griffin to threaten me. And by that, I mean he punched the wall beside me, leaving a fist sized hole in the drywall, scaring the living hell out of me. I decided that it was best that I don't have anything to do with that rope again. We were both happier that way.

I looked behind him to see that his district partner, Lynsa, was sitting in her chair while the interviewer was warming up the audience with a comedic routine that was, actually pretty funny for once.

It could just be because I had a different sense of humour than everyone else, but I thought that most of his recent jokes were lame. Like he had ran out of them and was just improvising. It wasn't that he was bad as an interviewer, it was that his comedy was at times, lukewarm. "You can take your seat when you please."

Griffin chose to head directly to his head and take his place beside Lynsa without a second thought.

I couldn't help but sigh. Normally by now I'd get a compliment, at least. Griffin had given me nothing. Or maybe that nod of his that he gave me often was his way of telling me thanks. Oh well, he seemed to like the outfit anyway. I guess that's good enough for me.

"You look a little bummed out." I heard a familiar voice say from my right. I didn't have to look over to know who it was. "Is that fruit basket that you're carrying on your head making you a little fruity?"

"That's even lamer than the jokes I normally hear from you, and our interviewer." I told my friend and fellow stylist, Melissa Venanzoni. As usual, she was drinking on the job, and was drunk. Out of curiosity, I took a quick glance to see what she was drinking. I was a little surprised to see that she wasn't drinking wine, but she had a twelve bottle case of strong beer. Seven of them were missing from the case.

"Eugh." Melissa shrugged, like she couldn't care less. "Want one?" She asked as I saw a black beer bottle hover in front of me. I considered declining, but then I thought, it was among friends.

"Sure." I said as I took the bottle and popped the cap off.

"To another successful year." Melissa said as she clinked her bottle with mine.

"I'll drink to that." I then took a swig of the brew, and nearly spat it out when it reached my tongue. This stuff was horrible and really strong. Bitter, dry, and a taste of pure foulness, I barley managed to swallow the liquid when I looked at the bottle to see that it was Basilisk brand, a really strong beer brand.

I looked at Melissa in disbelief, and she was chuckling at my expense. She knew that I was going to respond like that, she tricked me. I should have expected as much. She took the beer back before the interviews started.

"Oh look, your girl's up." She said as Lynsa went on stage with her interview outfit. A pink-orange dress made out of satin that moved down to her knees. Completing her outfit was a pair of high heels, which she managed to move about it. "I can never figure out how anyone can move in those types of shoes." My friend commented. I looked down to see that Melissa, unlike most female stylists, wore black, steel toed boots instead of the normal high heels.

"Practice." I told her.

"And pain." She added. Melissa never liked high heels, finding them too hard to figure out. I told her that normal shoes would have been better for her, but for some reason, she liked those boots better.

The interview opened up as expected, with the interviewer complimenting her on getting a ten for a training score. Lynsa, going with the sweet angle, thanked him before complimenting on his interviewing skills. The interviewer, flattered by her comments, easily played into her hand.

As much as I liked Shooter as an interviewer, I knew that his under developed hormones would get the better of him. At only twenty six years old, the only reason he became the tribute interviewer was because he was the only one that didn't try too hard. Everyone else before him had tried too hard, and in turn, made complete fools of themselves and the tributes.

As a child of two heavy alcoholics, his mind didn't grow at the same rate as his body, making him a fifteen year old in an adult's body. That, and the way that he presented himself showed that he was a child as well. Shoulder length aqua blue and light purple stripped hair with a light purple shirt with an aqua blue shooting star on it. He refused to wear a suit, even during an event like this.

Still, nothing anyone said or did could convince Shooter to change into a suit. The previous president let him get away, along with our current president, so I guess he could get away with it with me as well.

Shooter and Lynsa exchanged compliments and comments before they started to roll again.

Lynsa seemed to do all right with her interview until she got asked about her family. She hesitated a bit, her smile wondered off a little, but she managed to cover it up by saying that because of her parents, she turned out to be as strong as she was. She also added that it was thanks to her friends that she managed to get to where she was in life.

"Is there anyone you could like to thank specifically?" The interviewer asked.

"Yes." Lynsa answered. "My best friend, Apollo." Lynsa then looked at the cameras and stared to speak again. "I miss you, Apollo!" She shouted as the audience aww'd. I knew exactly what they were thinking, and I wanted to tell them to forget it. Just because a girl and guy were best friends, didn't mean that they were in a relationship.

"You'd think that every boy and girl that were friends were in a relationship by the way they act." I said as I pointed my thumb towards the audience, pointing to no one in particular.

"I think Lynsa wants to be in a relationship." Melissa said.

"Huh?" I replied, confused to what she meant.

"Look and listen." And so I did. And what I saw was Lynsa started to flirt with the young interviewer, and him liking it. And soon, he was flirting back. Well, that wasn't very professional. But then again, this was Shooter.

After some more flirts, it was obvious that he really, really thought that Lynsa was someone else. He was obviously under her finger. If she asked him for something, I bet he was going to comply. I think that's what she wanted. Clever girl. "Hey!" Melissa suddenly shouted. "No acts of favouritism!"

The audience laughed for only a couple seconds before they saw a beer bottle fly through the air, and smash close to the two kids. That cut off the flirts really fast. The buzzer I think helped more than my friend's distraction though.

"Melissa." I groaned as an avox went onto the set and started cleaning up the mess Melissa had made.

"What?" She asked innocently. "No favouritism."

"I think we need to talk about your alcohol problem."

"I don't have a problem." She said defensively.

"Sure sure." I said, not believing her in the slightest. I knew that she was lying. Hell, I think she knew that she was lying.

When the mess was cleaned up, Griffin came out with his sapphire blue suit that seemed to make him sparkle. It was a simple suit, but with the right adjustments and equipment attached, it could look breathtaking. And that's what the audience seemed to think as well.

Sparking randomly, Griffin had the eyes of the Capitol. And when he smiled, the device made that tingling star appear. The audience loved it.

Shooter also liked it, I could see that. He complimented on the suit and how Griffin's teeth shone because of my device, even though he couldn't see it. He also didn't say that his teeth shone because of the device, which was good in my books.

He then started the interview off by saying that the Capitol thought that he was winning material and pointed out that his score of nine proved that.

"So Griffin." He said. "What got you to volunteer for the games?"

"Well to be honest, Scot," Griffin answered, looking more like a charmer than the aggressive person that he normally portrayed himself as. "It was for the honour."

"Well I guess that really isn't surprising." Shooter said, reflecting what I thought everyone in the audience was thinking.

"It wasn't for me though." Griffin added, causing Shooter to look back at him.

"Oh?" He asked.

"It was for my mother."

"Oh." A pause occurred. "Tell us about it."

Should have been, tell us about her. Ugh. We really needed to find a better interviewer than someone with a teenage mentality.

"Well," Griffin started, knowing what Shooter should have said. "My mother said that she wanted one of her sons to win, and since my brother didn't win, it was up to me to fulfill that wish. Her final wish." Griffin said sadly.

"So it's for your mother that you want to win for."

"Yes." Griffin confirmed.

"One of her sons," Shooter whispered to himself, unable to see that everyone could hear him because of the microphone next to his mouth. "One of her sons." It was then that something popped into his head. "I'm guessing you're the younger brother of Dragon Holloway."

"Yes." Griffin said pleasantly, though I could hear an edge in his voice.

"Dragon got fifth place seven years ago, I believe. Are you going to finish what he couldn't?"

"Yes." Griffin answered proudly. "Dragon couldn't fulfill our mother's wish, so I'm going to do it for him."

"And I'm sure you'll succeed." Shooter added. "I believe in you."

"Favouritism!" I heard Melissa shout again, and I had to hold her arm to prevent her from throwing another bottle.

The rest of the interview consisted of Shooter asking Griffin questions, but they all seemed to be directed back to his mother somehow. It made a great story, and it was the most I had seen Griffin talk. I'm sure he gained some sympathy among the audience with that angle.

After Griffin was done, came Lucifer Despar on the stage with a simple black and white suit, but with a silly looking jester hat.

"I like the hat." Shooter commented.

"Thanks," Lucifer said. "So do I."

The interview then went into the two boys continuously make the interview into a comedy show. They joked and tried to make everything funny. They did and didn't succeed. Still, it looked like the two of them were loving the attention that they were receiving from the audience, and that their laughter was of the highest currency.

When the buzzer came on, they both acted like it was a disaster, and the audience ate it up.

Lucifer left, and out came Helena "Howl" Draconix with a sleeveless, pale green gown with emeralds cascading down the dress. Added to the dress was a giant bow on her back.

When the interview started, it was clear that by the first question Shooter asked, their personalities, or at least the angle Howl was going for, were going clash.

While Shooter was trying his best to go with Howl's angle, he just couldn't seem to get it right. Howl, even though she was a twelve year old girl, was playing off the vicious and cunning girl that had sharp remarks to just about every question that Shooter seemed to give her. I don't think she wanted to be thought of as weak, so she went for the angle she was playing as.

When the buzzer rang, I think Shooter was relived at that. Still, Howl had made an impression, and I think that it was the impression she wanted.

Next came up the other twelve year old girl, Nessa Christine Johnston.

Unlike Howl, she was playing the quiet shy girl, quite a contrast between the two twelve year olds.

"What makes you think you can win?" Shooter asked innocently. Even though he had asked innocently, I resisted the urge to slap myself in the face. Why would he ask her that? And so bluntly might I add.

"I'm a miracle child." Nessa responded, not seeming to be affected by her interviewer's words. "I wasn't supposed to survive, but I did. I defied the odds once, I can do it again."

"I'm sure you can." Shooter said, recovering from his stupid question.

"Notice that those two girls seemed to be from opposite worlds?" Mellisa asked as the buzzer rang. "Howl was loud and proud while Nessa played the shy girl angle."

"Yes." I told her. "I think Howl wanted to make a point while Nessa just wanted to play the heartstrings of the audience." It played well with the position the two of them were in though. Howl was part of the career pack. She didn't want to appear weak in front of her allies, even though she was the youngest and smallest of the pack. She wanted to show that she was as good as the rest of them.

Nessa on the other hand wasn't a part of the career pack. She would need those sympathetic sponsors to send her supplies if she wanted to stay alive.

"Seems like it." A pause occurred, and the both of us must have been thinking the same thing, because before I could say it, Melissa beat me to it. "This should be interesting."

Up next was Zap "Tharizdun" Philistone, along with the five peacekeepers that were escorting him. Zap was dressed up in an all black tuxedo, but from the way the sleeves were dangling and the way his chest and shoulders seemed larger than they should be, it was clear that he was still in his straight jacket.

As the peacekeepers forced him forwards by jabbing their weapons into his back, I had to wonder what this guy would do with his interview.

It turned out that he didn't do much. Shooter just asked him one question before he started to go on in an inaudible babble to himself. When his buzzer when off, nobody complained.

After him was Shoney Germoal. He came off at an odd angle, because even though he was acting shy, he was opening up to everything that the interviewer was asking him, not shying away from answering in full.

"One final question, Shoney." Shooter said. "Why did you volunteer?" That was a great question. While we didn't get a straight answer from Lynsa, who was busy flirting with Shooter, we learned that Griffin volunteered for his mother, Lucifer to gain fame and glory, and Howl because she wanted to show people that she wasn't just some little girl. So why had this kid volunteered?

"I felt like it." He answered bluntly. "I thought that this year was as good as any." Shooter looked like he wanted to ask another question, but the buzzer went off, killing off his chance.

"Kid's got guts." I said to Melissa. "You've got to admit that."

"I think he signed up for more than he bargained for though." Melissa told me. I couldn't help but agree. If this kid volunteered to go into the arena because he thought that it was a good idea at the time, I didn't think that he'd make it far.

Next up was Evaline "Eva" Ellery, who walked onto the stage with a beautiful green dress that has blue sequins on it.

When the interviewing started, I could tell that Evaline was confident, even though she was a reaped girl. She said a little about her strategy in the arena, but didn't give too much away. She just said that she'd use her abilities to survive and if it came to fighting, she knew how to handle herself. "Even though she was reaped, I still think she might have a chance." Melissa told me.

"They all have a chance," I told her. "Even Nessa has a chance of winning, even if it is slim." You never really knew with the games. Sometimes those you least expect would come out on top.

After her came Valerie Snake. Her interview was nothing short of a disaster. She kept on bitching about how they had all made a mistake and that she should have been back home in District Five. Nobody seemed to care what she said, and really, neither did I. She got reaped, and that was that, end of story.

When she was finally gone, up came that albino, Alexander Natas. He wore a suit as white as his hair with a tie as red as his eyes.

And while the interview went smoothly, there were things that you couldn't hide. Alexander, charming as he tried to be, there were statements of violence that didn't escape me.

"Is there anything that you like about the Capitol?" Shooter asked him.

"I love everything about the Capitol." The albino answered. "From the blood red dresses to the people wearing them. It gives them a killer look." That mind was full of violence, I was sure of it. Tried to act normal on the outside, but inside, he was different.

When he left, up next was Ricky Coler.

All and all, his interview was just, bland. There was nothing really special about him and when asked about his family life, he seemed to give off that he lived quite a normal life. I could tell that the only thing that interested the audience was the love of his family, but that was it. The audience wasn't interested in normal, boring lives, they wanted something interesting. They wanted tributes that were unique, someone new, special. And while you'd have some tributes like that some years, a majority of tributes were like a pile of clichés, in or out of their district.

But even if the tributes themselves seemed like clichés, every tribute did have a story, it was just a matter of wither or not you'd discover it or not.

After him came Rayne Page.

"I must say Rayne," Shooter said to her when she sat down. "I really am surprised that you got a ten for a training score. How do you feel about it?"

"Truthfully?" Rayne asked.

"Truthfully." Shooter answered.

"I feel no different than I had been before the score was announced."

"So you were expecting a ten?" Shooter asked.

"I wasn't expecting anything." Rayne told him. "I was just doing what I was best at, hoping to show that I wasn't weak and pathetic. I just didn't want a low score, because people tend to judge people based on their scores." I couldn't help but feel as if her remark was pointed towards the audience. But it was true, a lot of them based the tributes soly based on their scores, and to a bit lesser extent, their looks. "But in truth, scores mean nothing. High, low, all that matters in the end is what you make in the arena."

"Couldn't agree more." Shooter answered happily. I couldn't help but know that Shooter would agree with that, since he was notorious for betting on dark horses. High scores, low scores, pretty, ugly, Shooter betted on who he thought was going to win or not.

Even though he lost his bets more often that he won, he won more than some people that considered themselves smarter than him. People often thought that Shooter bribed gamemakers so that his betted tribute would win, but really, Shooter just went outside the mainstream pretty, career, and high scoring tributes.

Shooter and Rayne seemed to get along really well until the buzzer rang. When Rayne left, I think he was even more disappointed about her leaving than he had been with Lynsa and Lucifer.

"She's a confident one." Melissa said.

"She sure is." I agreed.

Next in line came Sami Lavisa. Her interview came as expected, because really, she acted much like herself. Shy, and someone that didn't seem to be a threat. She had scored a six, but her interview and personality made it seem like that that six was too high of a score.

Shooter tried to make the best of the situation, and I think that he did a great job with her. Getting her to open up about her family and tell us how she was the one to raise her siblings because her parents weren't around much. Or really fit to take care of kids. Her dad was constantly working and her mom was so sick that they had thought her to be dead on more than one occasion.

Sami was likable, and I could see her doing well with her alliance.

"I see her as both the little sister and the mother of the alliance she's in." Melissa commented.

"How so?" I asked.

"She's the quiet and shy type, the one that you'd want to protect. Like a little sister. And, I don't know, I think she'd make a good mother figure, keeping the group in balance or something."

Hmm. Now that she mentioned it, she could fill up a motherly role for the alliance.

When Sami's interview was done, her district partner, Bo Heatherfield, came onto the stage.

From what I had heard about him, he was the type of person who was like Sami, but worse. He was so quiet that he seemed almost anti-social. I had to wonder if he even tried to get into an alliance.

But even through all that anti-socialness, Bo managed to get an eight, and during his interview, tried to seem like the type of person that was lethal. But with his personality, he couldn't pull it off properly. He didn't talk at all, and made hand jesters that I think resembled either chopping someone or stabbing someone. It was an odd mixture of the strong and silent type with someone trying to make themselves seem like the strong and silent type. He just couldn't pull it off.

"He should have just done the silent type." I said to Melissa, despite how boring that angle was.

After him came Dav Anders.

From what I could tell from him, he wasn't anything special. He acted arrogant and thought that he could win, even though he got a three. But even through all that arrogance, I could see him getting along with Shooter, which was kind of a surprise.

When his three minutes of fame were done, up came the girl from his district. Ember Varen. She walked out wearing a floor length gown made of dark brown satin complete with a gold coloured belt around her stomach and gold coloured pumps. Her stylist also made sure to have her hair have a neat but natural look, making it look better than the mess that it normally is.

Ember acted had the sweet girl angle to her, and I don't know if it was intentional or not, but she had a tendency to loss concentration and seem to jump from one subject to another. And in one case, she spaced out. Maybe it was part of her angle? It seemed to make the audience like her even more. I think it added to the sweet factor.

Next up came Talliana Messine. She came out wearing a long dress made of strips of black and red fabrics. It wasn't the best thing that her stylist could have chosen.

"She looks like a checkers board." Melissa commented. I agreed. She did look like a checkered board.

Talliana acted confident, but had an attitude that told me that she was trying to be tough. She was half succeeding, because it just seemed like desperate attempts to seem tough. Even so, her confidence made up for it.

After her came Arrowe Winter, the one that got everyone in the Capitol interested in because he had volunteered. I had to admit, I was interested in him to, and was wondering why he had volunteered. After all, it was rare for non-career tributes to volunteer.

Like Talliana, Arrowe acted with confidence. At the same time, he was having fun with Shooter, saying that his black pants, white shirt, and red bandana around his head made him look like someone from a costume shop. That, and Arrowe was acting like a real ladies man. Obviously a tactic to try and get females to sponsor him.

"So Arrowe." Shooter said, going from fun loving to serious. "Before we run out of time, I'm going to ask you the question that's been driving everyone here crazy." He was not exaggerating. "Why did you volunteer?"

At that moment, I could here the audience inching closer to hear what he was going to say.

"The answer's really quite simple Shoot. I thought I had a chance to win, and so, I took the risk and volunteered."

"Your family must be quite worried." Shooter said to him, at which Arrowe's smile seemed to deflate a little.

"Yeah." He said, his voice not so loud and proud. "They are." The instant he finished that sentence, the buzzer went off.

"You think his family approved?" I asked Melissa, thinking of how Arrowe's emotions changed with the family question.

"Probably not." Melissa told him. "Judging from his fallen emotions, I would say that they were worried sick when he volunteered, if not downright hated him for it."

I nodded as Max Starling came out, wearing a black tuxedo.

His interview angle was what I expected from little kids like him. They tried to act cute for the audience, showing them that they were still just little kids. They used it to try and gain sympathy from the audience. Max did exactly that, but I could see that while most of the adult audience members though that he was cute, that Shooter thought that he was annoying as hell.

Max talked fast and talked a lot. His answers were long winded and seemed to go nowhere at times.

I could see Shooter just wanting something to happen to Max.

"So Max," Shooter said with a huge smile and a sadistic look in his eyes. "The arena is a scary place. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yes I can," Max said proudly, like he wasn't afraid. "I'm brave, I can overcome anything if I put my mind to it."

"Oh really?" Shooter said, still smiling widely. The only thing I could think of was, Uh-Oh. "You didn't seem all that brave when you cried during your reaping."

I could hear the majority of the audience gasp at what Shooter had just said. It was as unprofessional as it was true, but Shooter was there to help the tributes, not put them down. It hurt Max so much that he had a look of shock on his face. I could hear Melissa try to contain her laughter, and I could feel myself trying to contain mine. Max looked like he was going to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the buzzer drowned out his words. "Max Starling everyone!" Shooter shouted as he led Max off stage.

"That was so wrong." I said, trying to contain my laughter.

"But so right." Melissa laughed.

It was cold, but kids would be kids.

Up next came Life Lee, who came out looking like a different person than she had been before.

With her heavy makeup, blush, heavy lipstick, dyed hair and silver tube dress, she didn't seem like the pale and unhealthy Life that we were used to seeing. Now, she seemed almost like a model. Apparently, Shooter did as well.

Life acted a little shy, which seemed to be in her nature. She was polite and answered every question, but it seemed that each and every question seemed to go back to her friend, Laurel, who she thought of as a sister.

That would probably pull in a couple of sponsors, but everyone seemed to have their sob stories, it was just how they put it. Life gave a lot of information about Laurel, so I guess she was doing a good job of it.

After her came Angel Hale. She wore a white dress that was tight at the top and loose at the bottom while showing way too much cleavage. I think most people then and there forgot that she was fourteen years old because of the size of her breasts.

Shooter on the other hand, didn't seem to be attracted to her like that, which really surprised me. I thought that that teenage brain of his would be all over her, but he wasn't.

"Was that your partner's plan, Melissa?" I asked. "Having a minor revel herself so much that the men would think with their dicks, not with their heads?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Melissa confessed while taking another swig of her beer. I was almost surprised at how calmly she had bluntly told me the answer.

Angel seemed to do the same things that Lynsa was doing, acting sexy and sweet, but without the seduction. I thanked God that Melissa's partner and Angel's mentor decided for her not to be seductive. It was bad enough watching Lynsa flirting with Shooter.

I liked Shooter and Angel together, mostly because I was impressed with Shooter not drooling all over her, like a lot of other men must be doing right now.

"You think the strategy will work though?" I asked.

"We're talking about it, it must be working to a degree." Melissa answered. Wow. I never thought of it that way.

When Angel was done, up came her partner, Aerin Sevani.

As he walked out, I couldn't help but think one thing.

"I think you're having an off day." I told Melissa, because normally, her outfits were amazing, except for the one time when she was still working for District Twelve, but right now, Aerin seemed kind of bland compared to Melissa's previous tributes.

"Must be the drinks." She casual said, which made me hit my head with my palm.

"Drinking on the job." I said, not believing that she'd just do that. "I knew you had a problem, but drinking on the job?"

"It makes me think." She defended. I didn't believe her. Drinking doesn't help you think, it helps you not think. How were you still in the job, Melissa?

Aerin just seemed to be himself in the interview, which seemed to go very well. I think him being himself was the best angle that he could of gone as. He was an all around nice guy that Shooter got along with. Aerin talked about his friends and family, pull the heartstrings of the audience when he told them how much he wanted to return to them. That they were the reason that he was fighting.

"Aerin," Shooter said. "I think the both of us were thinking this during the reapings, but why weren't you at the reapings? Why did they have to send a search party for you? You didn't try to run away did you?"

"Truth be told," Aerin said, like it was no big deal. "I don't know. I got a notice that told me to tend the fields, the next moment, my friend, Thorn, told me that I had been reaped before I even started to go towards the town square."

"But, isn't it required to go to the square?" Shooter asked, confused as everyone here. Myself included.

"Things must work a little differently in District Eleven." Aerin answered before the buzzer rang.

That interview left me with a lot of questions. How exactly did the reapings work in District Eleven. Was it not required for certain people to attend the reapings? If so, why was Aerin, someone that wasn't supposed to be there, reaped?

"Know anything about this, Melissa?" I asked, wondering if she heard anything about this.

"Not a clue." She answered as she opened her last bottle. Did I tell myself she drank too much?

After Aerin came Colin. Healed up from his fight with Aerin, so Melissa told me, and back to normal, the fat boy clumsily made his way to the stage. I could tell that the audience was laughing at him because of his clumsiness and fatness.

Colin, was really stupid, enough said. He was so bad that I was almost tempted to ask for a bottle of the disgusting beer that I given back.

Those three minutes seemed to last forever, but thankfully, the buzzer rang before I thought about leaving.

Thankfully, the next tribute to come up was his district partner, Eve Scott.

I think the stylist of the females of District Twelve felt really got today, because she really did a great job with Eve. With a flowing red dress and crystals in her hair, she looked very elegant.

Eve was doing a different angle than everyone else, because unlike the rest of the tributes, who tried to show that they were a dangerous threat, nobody but her and Sami seemed to admit that they were better off below the radar. Eve fully admitted that she's use her survival skills to win, but would fight if she had to.

She also talked about her family, and like Aerin, told us how much they meant to her, which was a lot.

"I have so much to lose." She concluded.

"Couldn't of said it better myself." Shooter told her before the buzzer rang. "And that ends the interviews of the one hundredth and thirty ninth Hunger Games!" Shooter happily announced. "Get ready everyone, the real action starts tomorrow at ten!" At that moment, the entire population of the Capitol seemed to cheer and stomp their feet.

I felt the same way as them. Sure I would miss Griffin a little, but if he won, that was a different story. The games were tomorrow, and I was so excited to see what would happen.

"Can you believe it, Melissa," I cheerfully said. "The games are tom-" A wreching sound occurred next to me, and I didn't even have to look to see that Melissa was vomiting up all the alcohol that she had consumed.

"I'm sorry," She said, like nothing had happened. "What were you saying?"

"How did I end up with you as a friend?" I sighed, thinking of all the things that happened with her around.

She was good at her job, and a good friend really, but she was just, strange. That was the best way to put it.

"I think it was my third year of work," Melissa answered. "I was trying to make District Twelve look impressive, like the great Cinna had with Katniss and Peeta. But I didn't do something right, and ended up setting the tributes on fire, nearly killing them in the process."

She said all that with sadness, and I started to remember the young girl that just wanted the best for her tributes. She didn't necessarily care for the tributes as much as her job, but she still got attached to her tributes more than was necessary.

I think it was because District Twelve hardly ever got noticed, and because she wanted her designs to be noticed, as well as the tributes, she decided to do something that nobody had ever done before, recreate the boy and girl on fire. It was for both political and safety reasons that nobody had done that, but Melissa was so desperate to be seen as someone and wanted her tributes to be noticed that she took that risk.

Whatever happened, something went wrong, and the tributes she set fire not only got their costumes set on fire, but their bodies got set on fire as well. They managed to get saved, but had horrific injuries. To cover up those injuries until they could be treated, Melissa covered them with bandages and coal dust.

I now remembered me, the newly promoted stylist that went from District Five, all the way to District One, comforting her because she looked like a complete wreck. I had a daughter her age, so I guess I saw part of my daughter in her. After all, they looked the same, at the time.

"I remember now." I told her, thinking of how I comforted her in her time of sadness. "I held you close and told you that everyone in this career makes mistakes. You said that nobody almost kills their tributes, and I told you that you'll learn from your mistakes. I told you of all the mistakes I made, and that made you feel a little bit better."

"Friends since." She finished for me.

"Friends since." I repeated.

**A/N: I hate writing interviews.**


	15. Mentors

**"Survival instincts are one of those things that never die." -Kiersten White**

**District One's Bastion Barons's POV**

It wasn't that I hated mentoring, but I wasn't really fond of it either. I would rather be back in District One with my friends and family, but instead, I normally found myself in the Capitol because of reasons that made me curse that I had won.

Winning had been a dream to me back when I was young, proud, and foolish. Like my newest mentoring partner, Aphrodite Amari, and the tributes we were mentoring.

I couldn't blame Griffin or Lynsa for feeling that way, but Aphrodite, despite being a victor for a year now and being nineteen, was still acting like the tribute she had been last year, but worse. By now, she should of known better, but as she was talking to her friend, Lynsa, about how she was going to do so well in the games and how, when she came out a victor, they were going to have so much fun together. It made me want to laugh and puke at the same time.

Aphrodite was almost as arrogant as she had been a year ago, and that was really saying something for someone that had only won because of her sponsors. Because of her looks. Because her allies did the heavy lifting in the alliance. And in the end, she seemed to get off easily, because she wasn't suffering like the rest of us victors were suffering. She was still living in that childish dream world that tributes dreamed of.

It was pathetic and annoying as hell, but I wasn't going to be the one to burst Aphrodite's bubble, I'd let the Capitol do that, and her time was going to come soon enough. I was sure of it. Just as the Capitol was ruining me they would ruin my mentoring partner. It happened to every one of us, it was just taking longer for her. For some reason that I couldn't explain, the Capitol didn't put her through the things that the rest of us mentors had to go through during our first year of victory. Aphrodite only got showed the good things. I hoped that she would eventually experience the bad things as well. As horrible as it sounded.

She was a pretty District One girl with near perfect smooth and milky skin due to living in a healthy place that didn't starve you, along with being young, along with a head full of bright blond hair and sparkling green eyes that hadn't yet tasted true misery, along with a fit body that had received some extra curves, she was someone that the Capitol liked to see. Her image was helped significantly due to her recent win and the Capitol modifying her into her new, 'better looking' image.

It made me look at Lynsa, who was probably going to win in much the same method Aphrodite had won. Her looks, and nothing else. Sure Lynsa had some skills with a bow and arrow, but honestly didn't look that dangerous. She didn't seem to have that killer initiative that so many other careers, and non-careers, had. Because of that, I focused more on Griffin, and took him way more seriously.

Griffin was a very strong, and very skilled individual, even if he did lose to Lynsa in the scoring. Ah well, what could you do about that? Not like it mattered in the long run. You could shoot arrows into dummies as much as you wanted, but when it came down to humans killing humans, there were people that just couldn't do it. Aphrodite was one of them, and I'm pretty sure Lynsa was one of them as well.

Griffin might be arrogant, but he had more than enough skill to back him up. He might also not talk very much, like the girls did, but that's what I found great about him. After all, a warrior doesn't talk, he does. Sure he had an anger problem that could drive him down a bad path, but as long as he kept his cool, he has a great chance of making it far. Hell, even with his anger he has a better chance than every other tribute this year.

Aphrodite and Lynsa might call him a brute, but better to be a brute than a bitchy girl that can't do things herself. After all, Aphrodite, didn't your allies have to defend you during the attacks? Didn't your allies have to weaken your enemies before you finished them off? The only kill you did on your own was stabbing one of your former allies in the back, and that's when you won.

The Capitol treated you like a princess, and you let it get to your head. Riches, fame, and bragging rights, for doing nothing. And you were clearly enjoying your job of being a mentor.

I on the other hand, had to earn my victory. The slayings in that damn oil factory, the sweltering humidity, the smell of oil and decay everywhere you went. Your arena was nothing like mine. You thought that an old theatre as an arena was hard, try making your way through crude oil raining down you and getting it in your eyes and throat. The smell of decaying wood was overpowering? Try getting sand blasted by nature.

And after that, they used my young looks to their advantage. Because I was eighteen, but had only just began my growth spurt, I looked like I was only thirteen years old. Fourteen if you want to push it. And with that came a bunch of pedophile wannabes that I had to submit to.

Even now, after sixteen years, I hadn't seemed to of aged that much. I still had the same thick blond hair, green eyes, and athletic body, but my body and face remained relatively young. I looked more like Griffin, who looked like he was in his early twenties. Without the large muscles though. I had gained some slight ache that hadn't been as wild as the years before, but it still gave me a youthish appearance. The men and women of the Capitol loved it. Made them feel young, some had told me.

I didn't like the sex, as it felt more like I was being molested than anything else. I wanted to get out of it, but I didn't want to end up like Amber Littlewood, or Druid Ray. So I continued to submit to the Capitol, as much as I hated it.

**District Two's Elektra Draconix's POV**

Why? Why did you volunteer, Helena?

Couldn't you of just waited until you were at least sixteen? Or better yet, not volunteer at all? That would have been the better decision, not volunteering and living out your life without the shit that your father, your brother, and I, have to deal with. Live your life as peaceful as possible.

No, I guess you couldn't. And honestly, I can see why you would want to volunteer. But you honestly didn't think very far, did you? Otherwise you would have seen how stupid of a decision you made. Volunteering when you're only twelve year old? That's not playing the game, that's signing a death warrant.

Fucking hell. It's mom and dad's fault for making you think that you need to be something more than just a face in the crowd. It's this damn family name that makes you think that you need to be more than just another person walking around in District Two.

Mom and dad expect you to meet the highest standards, and mom even said herself that you won't be a Draconix anymore if you don't meet it. She said that she'd cast you away if you don't become something more.

They put you through training, telling you that being a Draconix is a privilege that you had to earn the right to be called one. And if it weren't enough for our parents to slide us towards that path, the other kids in the District expected a lot out of us as well. The instructors, classmates, everyday people, they expected the Draconix family to be larger than life.

That's why your brother and I volunteered, and found out very quickly that the arena wasn't all that it was cut out to be.

Azael found out that his allies were just using him to gain sponsors, using our name so that they could get attention. Azael almost got killed because of that, because all the careers that year expected him to be larger than life because of his name. So they tried to kill him late in the game, tried to drown him in human sewage when they lost their weapons.

Azael only won because he didn't fall into one of the many traps placed in that network of sewer pipes. He shouldn't have been able to escape the wrath of the career pack, but he did. Why? Because he didn't get lost. He knew the map, knew where the traps were, and stayed away from them.

I was in the same situation as you before, Helena. Before you, I was the runt of the family because I was only five foot five. The same expectations were put on me. A Draconix I was, and I had to earn my place among the family. I volunteered.

I then beat people to death with artifacts from the past. Bashed one poor girl's brains out with a stone slab. She was the one tribute that haunted me the most. It wasn't that I knew her well, or that her death was the most brutal, it was because she refused to die.

I bashed her face until her skull turned into a bowl, and even then, with half her head gone, she refused to die. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but look at me with those eyes of hers. Those eyes that told me that she was still alive and wanting to kill me.

That was four years ago. Now at age twenty, I still couldn't get over it. I'm not a tribal like Perseus Maddox or Druid Ray. I am also not a psychopath, like Amber Littlewood.

Perseus Maddox won his game eleven years ago at the age of eighteen by brutally stabbing the other tributes to death. Though it wasn't what many would call a strategy, it was simple and effective. It was all that needed to be done.

Perseus was big, strong, and a good fighter. It worked for him, and that was all that mattered. He didn't need sponsors, and even though he was a career and would of gotten some sponsors because of that, he wouldn't of gotten as many sponsors as the other careers. It wasn't that he wasn't handsome, he was quite normal. Short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a muscular build. It was just his so called strategy that people didn't like.

The Capitol wanted something original, something to captivate them. All Perseus did was kill. Too much was expected of him.

And while I had the same almond shaped emerald eyes and raven black hair as my sister, my body had matured. Sponsors took notice of that.

I was older than Helena. Stronger, smarter, more skilled than her. And even than, I barley won. I only won because I managed to 'ally' with some non-careers, and while still in the career pack, destroy both those groups from the inside. Get the non-careers and the careers to fight each other in suicidal attacks. Get them to kill their own allies. If I hadn't manipulated them, I don't think I would have won.

I may have supported her on her stupid crusade, but it was only because that was what she wanted to hear. I was too nice to her. I should of spoke up, said that if mom, and dad, and everyone else in the family was going to cast her out of the family because she wasn't high above all the normal people of the district, let it be. But I didn't.

Because of our family name. Because of the district's expectations. Because of mom and dad. Because of me. My little sister, was going to die.

**District Three's Ampf Tressel's POV**

If there was one thing that you should never have, it's a superiority complex. And for that reason alone, I was deeming Zap Philistone a dead man. Sure he'd make it far in the games, but that was all he was going to do, make it far.

His claim to be a god was almost as stupid as it was the careers thinking that they were invincible. Neither one of those were true. That would be the downfall of Zap Philistone, because while the careers were arrogant, they weren't so arrogant that they thought that they were a living god.

I don't know how Zap got that score of eleven, but it I knew that it didn't make him more godlike than he already was. He was human, like the rest of us. And just because you believed something, or thought that you were stronger, faster, smarter, or more skilled than other people, didn't mean that you were the best.

The careers, back when I played my game nine years ago, the careers thought that they were invincible. They thought that they could overcome anything that the world threw at them. And for a while, they were that invincible pack of tributes.

Stalking their prey around the tram yard, they picked off their victims one my one until nearly nobody stood in their way. But their arrogance caught up with them, as I showed that they weren't as invincible as they thought they were.

While the careers were busy hunting the other tributes, not even forming any semblance of a plan, I used by days in the arena to turn their camp into a death trap.

Using what I knew of electronics, I managed to get a barley functioning tram back online. Then by using the scattered glass bottles that littered the arena, filling them with gasoline and oil, I set them ablaze by the crate full. Then by using the controls, I got the train to ride forward, towards the cornucopia, and jump out of the moving train before it crashed into the golden horn, creating an inferno.

The careers burned to death, finally aware that they were as much flesh and bone as the rest of us were. All their training, sponsors, and warrior mentality couldn't save them from their stupidity. Couldn't save them from that kid that could hardly swing a sword properly, that stupid, thin, blonde kid that had been a nobody. One that you had forgotten about until you were condemned to hell.

I thought things would chance. But I'm now that I'm twenty seven years old, I'm disappointed that nothing has changed through out the years. Careers still thought that they were the greatest warriors ever, they had their pack, and most of the times, they won, only adding to their ego. Its not until after their victory that they discover just how weak they are.

Bastion, Elektra, Perseus, Cress, and Nemo, could vouch for me if they felt like it. Though some were worse than others, and while they had their own reasons for volunteering, there was that core element among the careers. The feeling that they could fight and win the games. That they could defeat anyone in their way. That career feeling towards the so called lesser tributes. Then feeling that powerlessness after victory.

And it wasn't just the careers. There were us non-careers. We thought that when we exited the arena that our nightmares were over. That we would have a better life than the one that we had had before. We were wrong.

Honestly, I don't think I would have made it this far without the help of my mentor, Techa Byte. At sixty one years old and having won her games at the age of fifteen, she had more experience with what it meant to be a victor than many of the mentors still alive today.

She explained to me that victory was like the water she had poisoned in her arena. At first, you didn't realize that the fountains of water in that park were deadly until it was too late. You taste the sweet nectar of life, and then it turns against you without warning.

Being a victor wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

**District Four's Nemo Rainer's POV**

Of all the career districts, District Four was the least liked among them. This year was not different, our tributes were the least liked among the pack, and that was because Evaline was reaped. A reaped career. It was stupid for the other careers to poke fun at her because she was reaped, she was a career, just like them. But they didn't see it that way. They saw her as weak and unfitting for the pack. It was stupid.

Shoney was a welcome sight for the pack, but they didn't think of him much either. He was a kid that they didn't take all too seriously, and it didn't help that him and Evaline scored the lowest of the entire pack. But scores mean nothing, they're just ways for fools to think that they're better than others.

Both Evaline and Shoney were careers, just like Cress and I.

It's funny, because Cress and I were both outcasts in our pack as well. We volunteered, but it was what was seen of us that made everyone in our pack question us. For Cress, it was that she loved the Capitol. She loved the people and the culture. She wanted to be like them, somewhat.

She would try to mimic their accent, dress up ridiculously, and dye her hair. She got called a lot of things, and some of those things turned out to be true. Capitol whore, traitor, stupid ass bitch. Those were some of the names that she was called back in District Four. Now they're more creative.

Cress won fifteen years ago at the age of eighteen, but seemed to of stopped aging at twenty five. That's probably because she kind of had. Capitol surgeries had done a wonder on her, and because of that, she was going to be forever young. Both physically and mentally, because she was still partying hard.

Capitol parties, sex filled nights, heavy drinking, Cress was loved by the Capitol. Pink hair on a tanned and toned body with blue eyes didn't hurt either. Cress belonged more in the Capitol than a district.

I on the other hand, was hated because I was more of a girl than a man. Dresses, skirts, and long blonde hair, it wasn't something that a thirty eight year old man should be running around in, and yet, I made it work.

Feminine face and a tanned body that was slim and not overly muscular with light green eyes, and I looked almost like a girl. The only problem is my voice, deep, rough, and masculine. I'm working on it though. I can keep a girly voice for about a minute, but that's about it. Hurts my throat trying to be girly.

I was looking for a better life, so I volunteered when I was seventeen and won the one hundred and eighteenth Hunger Games.

Used to the assaults that would be targeted towards me, I was strong enough to endure the blows that were inflected upon me. And because I worked on ships, my hands were strong like vices. It worked in my favour in the arena, a series of mini tropical islands surrounded by the ocean.

In that arena, I was like a shark. I'd grab people, pull them under the water, and drown them. They fought, but the years of working on ships and the years of swimming in District Four payed off. They couldn't escape me.

Even when I came home a victor, I was still and outcast, simply because of the way I dressed. The way I presented myself.

Cress was the same. There was a reason why she hardly ever went back to District Four, and I couldn't blame her. But District Four's my home, and I wasn't about to let that slip through my fingers. Even though I sometimes wish that the people of District Four would all drop dead.

Being a woman had its perks though. It was fun to trick people. That's how I first meet Bastion Barons. Bastion was on his first year of mentoring, and when he went out for a night of drinking, he saw me and started to hit on me. It wasn't until I spoke that he discovered that I was a guy. He nearly fainted, I nearly died laughing. We've been friends ever since.

I wish that more careers were as accepting as my District One friend. It would make Evaline's life way better. Probably make Shoney's life easier too. I know it would have made Cress's life easier.

Like our tributes this year, Cress was a skilled, but neglected career. So Cress left the career pack, scored a four, and let the career pack think that she was a helpless little girl.

But she was anything but helpless. She turned the arena into a slaughter house. Fitting, considering that her arena was a slaughter farm that killed and gutted pigs. She killed every opposing career the second day in the arena. Hung some on hooks while disembowelling them, threw a couple into an industrial meat grinder, dropped a frozen pig or two on another.

I bet the career pack this year would underestimate our tributes, and pay the price.

**District Five's Nina Bednarek's POV**

The Capitol has no love for tributes that hide during their games. Sure they liked the kids that were shy and didn't want to make themselves known, but what they didn't like was the kids that stayed away from the other tributes in the arena.

The Capitol wanted blood to spill in the arena. They wanted kids that were willing to get down and dirty in order to survive, not kids that out starved, or out hydrated, or hid from throughout the game. No. What they wanted was a tribute that would either kill another tribute, or die with dignity, in a fight.

They expected all of us to either be brave or like the careers, something that some tributes were nothing like.

When I won my game forty nine years ago at the age of eighteen, I had only killed two people, but in my opinion, it was two too many. I tried to stay away from the other tributes, tried to hide from them, but they always somehow found me. That is, until late in the game, when the numbers died down and the number of tributes looking for me decreased. That's when I was finally able to embrace the full element of hiding.

And when I say hiding, I didn't mean that I was someone like Copper Venezia, who stayed hidden in the shadows until it was her time to strike. I was someone that hid and stayed hidden. I was one with the shadows.

And unlike Copper, I didn't mean to kill those kids, it was an accident.

I won by hiding, and because of that, I was probably the least liked mentor of the Capitol, because in their eyes, I had been a coward and an unentertaining tribute. I also wasn't up to beauty standards either, which didn't help when I needed some sponsor gifts. But better to be an unattractive, unentertaining, coward of a tribute than a dead tribute.

My mentoring partner, Atom Lugger, was better liked in the Capitol than I was. His method for winning the games six years ago was simple and crude. Because of the nature reservoir, it was a simple matter of hiding in trees, waiting for you enemy to get below you, jump down, and kill them. Wither it was by knife, or rocks, or fists, he was determined to not let them escape.

He was better favoured by the Capitol. Tall and handsome with wavy brown hair and light blue eyes, along with being someone that was willing to fight and kill, he was the opposite of me. Sure he hid, but it was seen as a strategic manoeuvre.

I'm sure that Alexander could have learned from him, if he even cared about what he was trying to offer him. They might have gotten along with the whole hide and strike strategy, but Alex didn't care what anyone of us had to say, and neither did Valerie, unless it had something to do with her going back home because the Capitol wanted to correct their mistake of reaping her.

Neither of my district's tributes were going to make it out alive. Mostly because they don't listen. They were fixated on their ideas.

Alex was fixated on doing things his way, and Valerie thought that she didn't belong. She thought that her father was going to get her out of the games. But even with all that power as mayor, he couldn't do anything to change the reapings.

Just like how I couldn't change that I was a victor and a forced mentor, my punishment for being a boring tribute, I couldn't change the Capitol, only change the direction that some of the future events that were to come. Like help my district, if I could even do that.

**District Six's Turbo Danhauer's POV**

Anything can be used as a weapon. Anything. The human mind is an amazing thing, as it can think of things that others might have never thought of before. Creative things that are scary to even think of. Like how I won my game using a whistle.

Back when I was still in the arena, many thought that I was crazy, suicidal even. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't, I can't remember. Either way, I made it out of the arena alive by doing something so crazy, so stupid, that it was crazy and stupid enough to work.

What I did was use a whistle that I had found in that toy shop, and used it to attract the mutts to my location, and have them devour my enemies.

Some would call it cowardly, some would call it smart, but I didn't care what they thought of my method, I was alive, even though at times I wish I was dead.

I'm only twenty eight years old, and have dedicated half my life to mentoring ever since I won at the age of sixteen, and I couldn't see how some of the other mentors could stand doing this, especially Rune, who volunteered for this shit. Year after year, kids could be sent in, and most of the time, they couldn't come out alive, and we were forced to teach this kids to survive? Even though the odds weren't in their favour? I'm surprised that Copper hasn't killed herself yet. I'm surprised that more of us aren't dead. But I guess survival is a powerful motivator for staying alive. Just like in the arena.

Copper, forty nine years old, won the ninety ninth Hunger Games by strangling tributes to death with wire. Just like me, some called her creative, and some called her a coward, I didn't see the difference as long as you're alive.

They called us the same, but I don't know wither we're the same or not. Copper looked like she was deliberately trying to kill the other tributes while I looked like I was trying to figure out wither I wanted to kill myself or not. Probably the later, since I was still here.

Copper, blonde hair with wrinkled and sagging skin along with faded green eyes, had seen a lot more action than I had. Her body told that much, compared to my relatively young looking body with black hair and brown eyes.

Did I want to live as long as her? Did I want to see more kids die in front of me? Because I wasn't as good as a mentor as I could have been? Because the odds weren't in their favour?

Only the future could tell.

**District Seven's Barker Fabian's POV**

Amber Littlewood was sweating, in her underwear, screaming at the top of her lungs, while punching holes in the walls. In short, Amber was on another rampage fuelled by drugs, alcohol, and rage.

"Come out you little fucker!" Amber shouted as she punched another hole in the door leading to Bo Heatherfeild's room. "Fight me!"

BAM! Another hole in the door. "Fight me!" BAM! "FIGHT ME!"

Avoxes were trying to hold her back, as was I, but Amber was too strong because of the drugs and rage. It was surprising, because when most saw her, she looked nothing more than a five foot two girl. But if you look past the size, you'll see that she's a war machine made of tanned skin, muscle, and an ugly face that's been aged by anger. Pre-mature grey hair with wrinkles on her face, or scars, violent brown eyes, and more Testosterone flowing through her body than some of the guys back home, Amber Littlewood was a force to be reckoned with.

Before she won the fifth quarter quell, in which she won at the age of eighteen, had been a victim of chronic whipping. Back in District Seven, she had been known as Amber 'Whipping post' Littlewood because of all the times that she had been whipped. By the time she got in the arena, any attack to her back she didn't even feel. None of us were sure why she got whipped so often, but more than a few people thought that she liked the kiss of the whip.

Amber was violent, unstable, and let her opinions be known to everyone. She said what she wanted to say, and nothing had changed.

To say that Amber was a natural in the arena was like saying the ocean is full of water, everyone knew it. That year, there were no sponsors, not that Amber needed sponsors. All she needed was a weapon, and from there, everything else fell into place.

She loved fighting, lived for it. Those kids, not even the careers, stood a chance against her. Hit her, slash her, stab her, she'd keep on going. She was unstoppable in the arena. Hell, some would argue that she injured herself more in that mirror filled arena than her enemies, as she destroyed those mirrors with her body, by either punching, kicking, or body slamming it.

There was a reason that nobody in the Capitol wanted to be close to her.

Honestly, I was kind of jealous, because she hadn't been forced to have sex with anyone. Guess there are some things too crazy for the Capitol.

I was forty years old, my blonde hair was fading, and I was beginning to look old, but I was still getting calls from the Capitol to come on over so that I could please somebody. I couldn't say no. Nobody says no to the Capitol and doesn't regret it.

I made the mistake of saying no once. They got my parents to kill each other. They used my Hunger Games survival strategy on them. Psychological warfare.

When I won my game twenty two years ago, I wasn't strong, or fast, but I was smart. I used my words, and the arena, an abandoned village of straw huts, to my advantage. Getting other kids to kill themselves, or getting them to kill others.

Tricking them, messing with their minds, playing tricks on them, using the right words, sending them on guilt trips, that's how I won.

How I regret saying no. How I regret winning.

I wanted these kids to win, but at the same time, I didn't.

I wanted these kids to live, but at the same time, maybe it was better for them to die.

Amber kept on making craters in Bo's door as I thought of those two tributes. Sami, shy and reserved, was opening up a little thanks to her District Eleven allies. She got a score of six, and was in a good position to be in. Decent score, allies, but I didn't have much hope for her. She was a kind soul, not a killer. And even if she were, she wasn't strong, like Amber and I. She'd need Aerin to help her out on that.

Bo was also not a killer, as Amber wanted to be proved wrong on. Amber wanted Bo to fight her because of his score and interview. She wanted Bo to be a fighter, not a hider. She wanted to see him stand up for himself. Like she thinks he should have done back when confronted by the District Two pair.

I didn't have much hope for him. Because if he gets found, he's practically dead.

Alone, afraid, and anti-violent. I don't think he's victor material.

As we continued to hold back Amber, five syringes suddenly appeared in the back of her neck as five more avoxes pushed down on the plungers. Amber suddenly became weakened, but not out. There was still fight in her, but the drugs that we have up here that was meant for situations like this, for Amber's violent phases, gave us a chance to get Amber out of that phase.

"Let's get her to her room." I told the avoxes before we dragged her to her room.

**District Eight's Penny Azuma's POV**

From one hell to another. That's the sum up of my life. I lived my life going from one life of horror to the next.

First was the poverty of District Eight. Living in the poorest part of the district, I had to start working at the tender age of six, fixing live, industrial sewing machines that threatened to rip my flesh off, spear me, or kill me. Why was a little girl like me given that job? Because our little arms could fit in better than an adult's. I lost a couple of my friends to those machines. Vivid images of those deaths and injuries still fresh in my mind.

I hated machines.

Then came the rebellion of District Eight. A frenzy of violent protesters attacking the district peacekeepers because they believed in the freedom that Katniss Everdeen was going to bring. Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, the one that betrayed the boy that loved her. Why should anyone of followed her into battle?

It started with our mayor. He spread videos of Katniss standing up to her head peacekeeper, defending a boy that was being whipped. Whatever the reason he was being whipped, Katniss stood between the head peacekeeper, took a hit with the whip, and won. She got the peacekeeper to back down by talking to him, threatening him. To some, it was that action that showed that the Capitol could be brought down. If some girl from District Twelve could stand up to the might of the peacekeepers, why couldn't we?

But it didn't rally enough people, so the assault was on a standstill. At least, until the tributes of the third quarter quell held hands, creating a chain that many thought was a symbol of unity. I didn't care what it was, a showing of friendship, a symbol of togetherness, or because they needed to say goodbye to each other, that event triggered the rebellion of District Eight.

The rebels wanted every man, woman, and child that they could get their dirty hands on, so when my parents signed up for the rebellion, my two older brothers and older sister, along with myself and my two younger sisters, were drafted into their cause.

They thought they could fight the Capitol. Free District Eight from their rule. They were wrong.

Sure we had taken control of some of the factories and a good part of the district, but I would never have said we were winning. We took too many losses, my older siblings were among them. Killed by getting bullets in their brains.

The rebel army was nearly defeated, but what really severed the heart of the rebel army was the fire bombing of the district. They destroyed our bases of operations, our holdouts, the buildings that we had captured, anything that was holding a rebel got bombed.

I got separated from my family during the air raids, got separated from all friendly faces. If you could even call my allies friendly. We may have been on the same side, but the adults that were making us fight were not the good guys in the eyes of us kids.

They gave us a weapon and told us to fight for their cause, or else we'd be considered allies of the Capitol, and killed. Our own people treated us no better than the enemy did. So we fought the Capitol out of the fear that we'd be killed by our allies.

Because of that stupid fight, I had lost my home, my friends, my parents and older siblings, and was covered with hideous burns that covered nearly half my body.

Then I got reaped at the age of eighteen and entered that arena. A large factory that reminded me of my childhood. It felt as if the Capitol was rubbing all the death and destruction of my district in my face. It sickened me.

I won my game because I had been forced to fight a war that I wanted no part in. The arena was no different. I had killed before, so killing didn't bother me. I won by being the toughest little bitch in the arena.

After I won, the Capitol fixed my body up, healed me of my physical scars, like they were trying to redeem themselves. They didn't heal my mental scars, so I remembered the hurt that they had caused me by destroying my home.

I was then forced to mentor kids that kept on dying year, after year, after year.

I'm just glad that I wasn't alone. I still had my younger siblings, I had Alen Porber, and my mentoring partner who had won the one hundred and fourteenth Hunger Games at the age of sixteen by trapping other tributes in rooms before setting fires in the room next to them. Castles were good that way. Made of stone, and stone couldn't be burned though. But the holes that those murder rooms had had no windows to vent the air out.

Now forty one years old, Alen had aged pretty well. Short blond hair with a thin beard, bright green eyes, and a face that didn't make him look older than he really was. He had aged well. Not like me who had wavy grey hair and sagging skin.

But at least I wasn't alone.

I never wanted to be alone.

**District Nine's Mazie Gornick's POV**

The more things change the more things stay the same.

These games had changed over the years. Different tributes, different arenas, different ways to die and confront a situation, but in the end, they are always the same. Twenty four little children enter the arena, twenty three of them return in boxes. That is, if the president is kind enough to send them in boxes.

I remember the president that ruled after President Snow died right after the third quarter quell. President Dawn was a brutal man that wanted to show just how helpless the districts were, remind them that they were at the mercy of the Capitol. He didn't destroy us, but he did something almost as bad. He strengthened the hold of our district.

More peacekeepers arrived in our district before rounded up all the rebels that they could find. They took them to the square, and forced the district to execute them. Family, friends, strangers, it made no difference to the peacekeepers, we were forced to attack the rebels until they died. Even I, a seven year old girl, was forced to physically destroy a man until nothing of him remained but meat, bones, and memories.

The peacekeepers then burned the fields and homes and businesses of the former rebels, and forced us to rebuild the district. We managed to scrape by, but it wasn't that much different than it had been before, it was just harder. We were still hungry, we were still at the mercy of the Capitol, and we were still forced into a life of misery.

Our ruler changed, our district changed, our lives changed, but at the same time, nothing had changed. This rebellion that was supposed to change our lives, did nothing.

The games continued as well. And when I was eighteen, I got reaped, and won the eighty sixth Hunger Games. It was because I knew what to expect. People weren't the same, but there was always a certain type of person around, you just had to find out what and who they were.

I knew that there was going to be the cocky careers, the scared tributes, the smart tributes, the tributes that everyone under estimated, over estimated, lairs, pacifies, psychopaths, the whole ordeal. When I found out who they were, it wasn't that hard to figure out how I could use their personalities against them. Sure I didn't know the finer details of them, but I knew enough.

I would like to say that my mentoring partner, Barlic Machinist, is different, but he's the same as well. Winning the one hundred and fourth Hunger Games at age eighteen by pure intimidation, he made himself seem more powerful than he really was. He had a way with words when he was young, but now he was nothing more than a walking shell of himself.

He was alive and well, but then President Dawn threatened that if he ever use his words as a weapon against the Capitol, that he would personally make everyone that he cared about run through a rice field full of landmines. Barlic didn't dare disobey.

The threat still holds today, as there are still people in the world that Barlic cares about.

Now Barlic, with the same dark skin, tired dark eyes, and old wrinkled look, had the same amount of speech availability as an avox. He could still write, so that's how he communicated. He was a good mentor, so that's why he still mentored.

At least he still had teeth though, almost all of mine were gone. As for my hair, it was grey, not that I didn't mind it. I was old, but as I had said many times over, things never really change.

Not even the games and the tributes changed. The only things different about the games were how, when, and where they died. It was predictable. How the Capitol manages to all excited about this year after year is beyond me.

Talliana was a typical party girl, a girl that wanted to make the most of her life without falling into the dread of the district, be with her friends, didn't expect to get reaped. She was a fun and easy going, but was also determined to get home.

Arrowe, while he had volunteered, wasn't anything special either. He was a risk taker, and what do risk takers do? Stupid things, such as volunteer for the games. I bet he didn't even think about what would happen if he lost. I bet he didn't think of the bigger picture beyond himself.

No. These kids might not have been like some of last year's tributes, or the year before that, but they were still the same.

I was only nice to them because it was easier to deal with happy tributes than depressed ones.

**District Ten's Druid Ray's POV**

Survive by any means necessary. That's what I tell my tributes before entering the arena. A final piece of advice that was probably going to be the best thing that they heard from a District Ten mentor. At least, until District Ten got another mentor that was at least half sane, or was at least in the real world.

Of the three mentors in my district, I was probably the only one that was able to do the job of mentoring. Sable De Balzac, our female mentor, and the one that mentored me ten years ago, was more dead than alive, both inside and out. Our other living mentor, Joesiah Herzig, thought that he was a fucking tree.

I don't know how that bastard's still alive, but he's not fit for a mentor. He isn't even fit to be a human being anymore. Ever since his victory of the ninety eight Hunger Games, he hasn't moved or anything, he just stands sill, like a statue, and stares off into nothingness. Old, wrinkled, and with dark hair that'd be a perfect bird's nest, it was hardly surprising that I was chosen to mentor after my victory.

Sable, my former mentor, wasn't much help either. Because she was addicted to morphine and other powerful drugs, she was more of a walking corpse than anything else. At forty nine years old, she looked even older than the oldest mentor of this year, Penny Azuma, who was seventy nine years old.

With dirty, sagging, awful grey skin, sickly yellow eyes, black teeth, and black hair that was never clean, Sable looked like she was over one hundred years old.

I could see why Sable turned out this way though. Her games were the stuff of nightmares. Near complete darkness with danger lurking everywhere, Sable's mind snapped when she gave in to paranoia, and insanity. Attacking anything that she thought moved, made a sound, or if she thought she saw something in general. Nothing was safe from Sable, not even herself.

She clawed and hit and bit herself in order to stay awake for the thirteen days she was in the arena for. She feared that falling asleep would get her killed, and she was mostly right. Some of the tributes that did fall asleep meet their end as they napped. Killed by tributes that stumbled upon them, or by mutts.

By the time that Sable got out of that arena, she didn't even look human anymore. She was that badly damaged.

Joesiah on the other hand, became so convinced that he was a god damn tree that he forget that he was human. I couldn't see how anyone could forget that they were human, but Joesiah somehow did. In his arena, a jungle, he covered himself with bark, vines, and mud, hid from the other tributes, and the rest is history.

And then there was me. The one that betrayed the one that he loved. The Capitol loved the tragic love story, and some even tried to comfort me with sex, saying that I should pretend that they were Saddy. I felt like bashing their brains in. They were not Saddy, and they should never say that I should pretend that they were.

After a couple years of this sexual and mental abuse, I finally gave in to my feelings. I killed a Capitol woman that was pretending to be Saddy by using drugs, alcohol, bondage, and violence. Tried to make it look like a night gone wrong. I didn't try hard enough.

The Capitol killed my grandparents using drugs, alcohol, bondage, and violence.

I knew nothing but rage at that time. Rage and sorrow. And even though I knew that my grandparents were old and about to die, I wanted them to live out their lives and die naturally, not by the Capitol.

But because of their deaths, the Capitol could no longer control me. Just like they had no control over Sable or Joesiah.

It was because of that that we became the most hated mentors by both the Capitol and our fellow victors. The Capitol because they couldn't control us as much as they wanted. Our fellow victors because we were more free than them.

I felt like laughing. We might have more freedom than them, but that didn't mean that we were free. I was still stuck in a shithole called Panem, Sable was trapped in a morphine riddled body, and Joesiah was practally brain dead. We were still alive, but dead on the inside because of our choices.

I didn't think that Max was going to win. Max was a thirteen year old kid that talked too much and was over confident in his ability to go for a long time without food. His ally wasn't much help either. What could a twelve year old girl from Three, and a thirteen year old boy from Ten do? Nobody was lining up to sponsor those two. Nessa was doomed to be a bloodbath, and Max was too annoying for anyone to really care for.

Life, I also didn't see her winning, but she still had a better chance than Max, despite her scrawny body. She was willing to fight, and sometimes, I guess that was enough.

I didn't particularly like Life, but I gave her the best god damn advice that I could think of. I even told her that love was a weakness in the arena. I didn't want her to make the same mistake as me.

But why did I care so much? She was going to die in the arena.

Sable answered for me. Sable almost never talks, but when she does, you better god damn listen to her. Sable told me that I cared about Life, because I could see a part of me in Life. The poor farmer kid that was deemed just another victim of the games and would be forgotten. Defending someone when we shouldn't of.

Forget about it Druid. We both know that she's dead.

But then again, Druid, didn't you say the same thing about yourself?

**District Eleven's Rune Shaith's POV**

My fellow mentors would rather be back home in their district rather than mentoring another batch of kids. They didn't want to start to get close to their tributes, only to see them die in the arena. They didn't want to be reminded of themselves back in their younger days. And frankly, neither did I.

I hated mentoring, but I volunteered for it. I didn't need to, and many wondered why I could possibly want to be in the position that I am in right now. One such person that wondered that was my mentoring partner, Pepper Ridgeway, who was the first tribute that I had successfully mentored. That was eighteen years ago, and so far, we haven't gotten any of our tributes return back home.

I'd like to think that this year's different. Pepper wants to think that as well. Aerin seems like the best choice for us this year. He's strong, skilled, and has a likeable personality that sponsors might like. That being said, he was young, fourteen years old despite his looks.

His district partner and ally, Angel, was also a somewhat decent tribute as well, but we didn't think that she'd be able to win. Not unless Aerin makes it far with her before laying down his life for her, and then she somehow makes it to the end. Angel wasn't as strong or skilled as Aerin, and she was young as well.

And as much as we didn't like it, but we remembered the last tribute that won at the age of fourteen. That District Nine girl who won the one hundred and twenty sixth Hunger Games, Zea, had killed herself not long after her victory. Assaulted a peacekeeper so badly that he was forced to put her down. I don't know what she had been thinking, nor did I know what exactly happened to her to make her act that way, but I had a theory that the stress of being a victor was too much for her to handle as such a young age.

When I looked to Aerin and Angel, I have to wonder that, if they somehow do win, will they end up like her? Will I of helped the district gain a victor, only for them to kill themselves soon after? Knowing that their post victory suffering was my fault? Could I live with that?

I looked over to Pepper, and thought of how she was still alive and well. If I could mentor her into the figure that she is now, I could probably do the same with Aerin or Angel, if they did win, it would just take a little bit of extra work. And really, if I could prevent even just one death a year, I would call that a good year.

Honest to god, Pepper and I try to help the district, but it seems that whatever money we use to try and help the district, it seems to do nothing to the overall suffering. Like all the good we try and do gets swallowed up in the black void of violence and suffering. Not unlike the arena, where we both won by fighting tooth and nail, literally, for our lives.

My arena was a hospital, which I found rather ironic, as it was supposed to be a place to reduce pain, not inflect it. But even so, I used those surgical tools and syringes to deliver death to anyone that stood in my way. Pepper's arena was a fancy cook house, one that acted like a giant kitchen. Throwing boiling water in their faces, using cutting boards as armour, shoving tributes faces onto the burning stove tops, Pepper fought as ruthlessly as humanly possible.

The Capitol fixed our injuries back then, but age and stress had caught up with us. We were both tall, dark skinned and muscular, which helped our bodies look younger, but our faces were different stories. Wrinkles were beginning to show on Pepper, and the ones already on me were becoming more and more noticeable. Our brown eyes were tired, but not defeated, and Pepper was getting a few strands of pre-mature grey hair on her corn rows. My shaved head however, managed to minimize the among of grey that had settled in years ago.

All this stress, and I was choosing to mentor kids, who were more than likely going to die. Why was that? Well, as I told my family, I couldn't just stand back and let kids die while I sat down and watched year after year. So four years into my victory, I choose to start mentoring at age twenty one, feeling as if it were my duty to give the tributes the best chance that they could get.

The district has enough suffering already, and I didn't want to just do nothing while it all happened, not while I could do something about it. These kids at least deserve a chance, so I'll give them the best one I can.

Little that does, unfortunately.

**District Twelve's James Ashfall's POV**

As I continued to down the shot glasses of honey flavoured alcohol, I thought of my tributes and how they were going to be sent into the arena soon. This was one of the worse parts of being a mentor, knowing that the kids you had been around for nearly a week were perhaps going to die in a few short hours from now. Drinking took the edge off those thoughts and feelings.

I had a dumb, fat, rich boy, and a dirt poor young girl that looked more like she should belong in the merchant class than in the Seam. I wondered about that, but didn't ask, as she was reserved and probably wouldn't tell me anyway. But there was another reason that I didn't ask. I didn't ask because knowing about her past would have meant that I'd know her a little bit more. And knowing would lead to understanding, to the best of my abilities. And understanding would lead to attachment.

I learned long ago that I shouldn't get attached to my tributes, and that I should expect them to die. After all, this was District Twelve we were talking about. The worst place in Panem and the laughing stock of the Hunger Games due to our tributes dying quickly, and having only four victors in its history.

Almost all our victors had been from the Seam, and had won because of their brutal living. Someone's name who had been long forgotten, Haymitch Abernathy, and Katniss Everdeen had came from the Seam. I was the exception. I had came from the merchant area, and was written off as a dead tribute by everyone, even my home. Even by District Twelve standards, they didn't think I stood a chance.

After all, what chance did a merchant kid like me have in a death game that was called the Hunger Games? Even though the line between merchant and Seam had thinned after the riots that had occurred just over sixty years ago, the merchant class was still less starved and had a somewhat cozier life than the Seam residences.

I was no Haymitch, Katniss, or even a Peeta. I was a guy that washed clothes. I wasn't strong, nor was I fast, or even smart. Nothing like the previous District Twelve victors.

Right now, Evanlyn had a better chance at winning right now than I had when I had been reaped. She was smart and knew how to survive the outdoors. If she could outlast the other tributes and starve them out, then she could come home. She was good that way because of the poor life she had lived. Used to starvation, knew how to survive outdoors, smart. She had a chance, unlike Colin, who didn't stand a chance.

Too dependent on food to survive long. So clumsy it wasn't even funny. Unable to fight back against someone that could actually take him on. And stupid as fuck. And if there was any other doubt that he wouldn't end up as a bloodbath, he was slow. He wouldn't be able to get out of the bloodbath field in time. He also had no stamina, which made running for him impossible anyway. So all in all, he was a bloodbath through and through.

If I could help her, I would help Evanlyn. If she could survive long enough to gain sponsor money, if she showed a chance that she could survive, I'd help her.

In the reflection of my shot glass, I saw a man with an uneven mixture of blond and grey head and facial hair, diluted blue eyes, and a light tan. Wrinkles were lined across his forehead, face, and around his eyes showed that he was just a year shy of fifty, but looked older. He looked like a soldier that had just returned from a long run war. Fitting considering my arena was a battlefield.

Having facing horrific trench conditions of rain, mud, and rats so big they looked like they could fight cats, I found that those weren't the worst things that arena had to offer. They had undead mutts that resembled soldiers of the old, attacking rat mutts, murders of crows, and attack dogs that could track you and rip you to pieces. But what got a lot of tributes was the paranoia of hidden traps. Not powerful enough to kill you, but enough to severely hurt you.

I saw my reflection, then saw myself as I was thirty one years ago. A scared kid that was in no shape for the arena. I wasn't a fighter, like Haymitch or Katniss, and I wasn't a survivor, like Peeta or Eva. But as I found out in the arena, sometimes it wasn't those who were the strongest, the fastest, or the smartest. Sometimes, it was the lucky ones that survived.

I had been lucky when I had gotten attacked by other tributes. I somehow managed to defeat them, even when I logically wasn't supposed to. I had been lucky when I had managed to escape the mutts, even when it seemed impossible. I somehow managed to avoid traps, avoid starvation, avoid becoming consumed with fear.

In the end, I won by luck, because when my final fight came, I was so badly injured that all I could feel was pain and couldn't even see anything. But then luck came in, and allowed me to shove my enemy into a landmine field.

Luck, was the only reason I was still alive today.

**A/N: And now my brain hurts. It feels as if I'm mostly repeating the stuff, probably because it's mostly the same stuff. History and all. Couldn't go deeply in depth with everyone.**

**I'm not completely ****satisfied**** with this chapter, but do you know how hard it is to make little histories for twenty four mentors without creating a massive dump of words? Some would argue that I should ****have**** done that, but, this is just a teaser, I guess. You'll find out more about the mentors as the story ****progresses****. Hopefully.**


	16. For my family

**"There is nothing more important in my life than being a father. I will never allow any of my career choices or aspirations to threaten this bond." -Corey Hart**

**District Eight's ****Lawrence Varen's POV**

***Eight years ago***

"Get back here you son of a bitch!" One of my pursuers shouted as I rounded a corner of one of the many factories that made up the district. Factories were in nearly every section of the district. Rich, middle, and poor sections of the district had factories, but where I was right now, the industrial part of the district, had the most factories in one place, a perfect place to lose people that were chasing you. Or a perfect place to get lost yourself if you were unlucky, or just didn't know the area well enough. I knew the area well enough not to get lost, but the real question was, did they?

I continued to run, hoping to lose them in the maze of industrial buildings and alleyways, but it was easier said than done. These people were willing to go to extreme measures to insure that I didn't leave with their precious cargo, and I didn't blame them, this stuff was valuable, so valuable that it was a Capitol issue. Letting it get in the wrong hands was something that they didn't want to happen, and I was in the same position as them. I didn't want it to get in the wrong hands as well, but unfortunately, it was already in the wrong hands. Their hands. I couldn't allow them to hold on to it any longer. It wasn't safe. It was dangerous. And it was bad.

I continued to take sharp turns and go in as many directions and change alleyways as often as I could without slipping on the wet ground that was a mixture of loose dirt and mud, or on pieces of debris and useless machine parts that were no longer in use. I didn't want them to catch me, who knows what they would do to me. It was stupid, and dangerous, but it was something that needed to be done.

Running, jumping, rounding, dodging, I had never done so much of this in my life. The clothing store that my wife and I run had the occasional thief that would try to steal some of our things, but most of the time, I was able to catch them. Got quite good at it too. The trick was to prevent them from getting out the door, that would usually end in an easy victory. And even if they did get out of the door, usually all I'd need to do is chase them down until the stolen clothes got tangled up in something, or the clothes slipped from their hands, or some obstacle got in their way. Mostly it was people that they accidentally ran into because they were watching me chase them instead of looking ahead of them.

Normally, we'd be able to catch the thieves, but there were times that they got away. It was always a shame when they got away with our items. We were better off than the majority of the district thanks to our clothing store selling quality stuff for any class of citizens, but that didn't mean that we could afford to have our stuff stolen. It was still a struggle to live, and I didn't want my wife or my daughters to somehow fall into poverty, like a lot of the citizens that roamed the streets of District Eight. Like the people I had known.

And besides, you start to go easy on thieves, they'll overrun you, feed off the weakness that you showed them, and you'll soon find yourself fighting on the street for the very clothes that you were protecting in the first place. Except that it would no longer be between staying in business and making a profit, but between being cold and being somewhat comfortable.

Right now, I had new respect for those kids, teenagers, and adults that would take a chance at taking the shop's items. This fear that I was feeling was like a darkness surrounding me, the dangerous unknown somewhere in that darkness, right to strike at any moment. The fear of stopping was the only thing that kept me running, even though my legs felt as if they were burning up inside, melting my bones and ripping my muscles apart. My chest and throat were tight as I struggled to breathe. My sights were surrounded with black and grey patterns that swirled every which way. My heart was beating so hard that I thought I was going to vomit it out, and my body was getting mixed with hot sweat and the cold rain.

So this is how they felt when I chased them. I never knew that it was so scary and intense. I now knew what it was like to have your life on the line now, and I suddenly understood why they tried to hard to outrun, out manouvour, and try to stop me at any cost.

So this is what it's like on the other side. I didn't like it.

The running, the pain, the fear, I didn't like it one bit. The mud and rain and people behind me didn't help either. Still, I needed to do this, just like those kids stealing from me, I had to do this.

I continued to run, to get away from them, but then I started to slow down, and more fear started to rush through my body.

My legs started to get heavier, like they were being weight down with weights. My breathing became heavier, and I could no longer breathe properly, and the pain in my chest, arms, legs, and even my head, became more intense. I started to get slower, and slower, and slower, until I couldn't even move. My body was so tired and in so much pain that I fell to my knees.

No. This can't happen. Not yet.

"Caught you you bastard!" One of my chasers shouted before I felt a sharp pain erupt behind my head. Caught in a moment of blinding pain, I fell right into the mud, soaking the entire front of my body with freezing cold intensity, before I felt the assault of fists and footwear hitting me furiously.

I couldn't fight back. I tried, but everything I did seemed to be useless. I blocked one attack, three other attacks would get past me.

Head, chest, sides, legs, feet, arms, hands, they attacked everything. Even when I managed to get to my feet, they continued to attack me. Grabbing my jacket and slamming their fists in my face while slamming them elsewhere as well. It was hell.

I could feel the warm, sticky blood running out of various parts of my body, and I could see myself going blind along with the feeling of my bones possibly breaking, but they continued to brutalize me. I had never felt so much agony in my life.

These people were furious and violent, that's what separated me from them. I would get my stolen merchandise back and tell the thieves to shove off, never hurting them more than I needed to. These people however, were going to kill me in order to keep their secret a secret.

Fuck. Now what was going to happen to my Janee? My June? My December? What was to become of them now that I was dead? Dead because of my stupid fucking mistake.

Thinking about them and what they'd be thinking hurt me more than the pain that these people were inflecting on me. The thought of the future was worse than the physical pain of the present. I had to get away, I just had to.

"You there!" A voice called out. All of a sudden, the attack stopped. I gave a heavy sigh of relief, as much as it hurt, and wondered who had stopped this attack. I tried to look, but it was too painful to move, so I just laid where I was, hoping that it wasn't one of their friends that came to finish the job. "What are you all doing?"

"This man stole from us!" One of my attackers told the newcomer. "We were just trying to get back what was ours."

"Really?" The newcomer said, unconvinced that they were telling the truth. "And where is this stolen item of yours? Can I see it?"

"It's...Um...It...Um..." The attacker stuttered, afraid to say where it was on me. He didn't want this guy to see it. I couldn't help but smile and use all of my energy to turn my head up to see why he was so worried. Feeling the strain on my neck as muscles seemed to rip apart, I saw a small group of men wearing white uniforms and raincoats that had rain slithering down the plastic. Each of them held a rifle in their hands. Peacekeepers.

My grin grew as I discovered that this was my chance to show them what I had stolen, and shut down the hazardous operation that was going on in this district.

"It's a data pad." I answered with a voice that almost didn't sound like my own.

I saw the peacekeeper turn towards me as my attackers looked on in fear. "In my bottom right jacket pocket." The peacekeeper nodded before he turned back to his companions.

"You four watch these assholes as I search the suspect." His allies answered simply before he walked towards me. His boots dirty with wet mud.

The peacekeeper roughly placed his hand in my pocket, and started to search around. I continued to smile, knowing that what I had done wouldn't have been in vain. I wasn't the one to be scared now, the original owners of the data pad were the ones that should be shitting their pants.

When the peacekeeper found the data pad in my pocket, he ripped it out before waving it around in the air. "Is this what he stole from you?" A couple moments of silence occurred as only the falling rain made any sound. "I asked you all a question." He said, his voice becoming more harsh. "Is this, or isn't this, the fucking data pad that he stole from you assholes or what?"

"Y-Yes." One of them answered suddenly.

"What are you so scared about?" One of the other peacekeepers asked. "Afraid of us finding something illegal on that device? Is that why you're scared and the thief isn't?"

Before anyone could say anything, the peacekeeper with the data pad activated the device and started to look at the lists that were on it. I sighed with relief and placed my head back in the mud. My work here was done. I had done my part, the peacekeepers could do the rest.

"What's you name, thief?"

"Lawrence Varen." I answered, too tired and happy to care that he called me thief.

My joy and tiredness turned to confusion as I felt myself get ripped off the ground before I saw the data pad get thrown to the people I had stolen it from. What the hell? What was that all ab-

"Lawrence Varen," The peacekeeper harshly said to me as he pulled me in close, his face so close to mine that I could count his eyelashes and smell his disgusting breath. "Want to know what I think you want with Capitol shipping records?" What? Capitol shipping records? That not what was on the pad. "I think you're a rebel that wants to either blow up our supply line, or you want to steal supplies for your rebel friends."

What? No! No! That's wrong! Fuck! Fuck! What went wrong? Shit. I think I stole the wrong data pad. And now they think I'm a rebel. A rebel of all things!

Fear rose inside of my as I realized where this was heading. "Either way, the sentence is death. Got anything to say about that?"

***One month later***

"So you're Lawrence Varen, the man who begged for his life until a deal got cut?"

"That's right." I told the peacekeeper that was escorting me through District Two from the train station. He was a young man, early twenties with a shaved head and muscled body. Looked and seemed kind enough, though I wasn't sure wither he was like that because he wanted to be or not. The peacekeepers that had been escorting me from my native District Eight to here hadn't looked too happy to have me come aboard as they headed to their home.

They had looked at me like I was below them, that they couldn't believe that I was on the same train as them. More than once I had heard comments from them saying that I didn't belong with them, that the Capitol, and someone called Hurricane, allowed my plea to be heard. They also weren't the nicest people around as they were rough as could be. Shoving me into the train, shoving me into my chair, kicking me and slamming the butts of their guns into me if I moved too slowly. Yeah, I didn't belong with them either, but I did what I had to do.

I didn't want to get executed, it would have brought shame to both my family and my ancestors. I would forever be branded a thief that stole from a merchant, and my family would have had to live with that title upon them. I didn't want them to suffer, so I begged for an alternative. I wanted something, anything, that would clear my name. Something that wouldn't allow my family to suffer and so that I wouldn't shame the name of those that lived before me.

And they did come to a decision. They wouldn't have me branded as a thief, and I wouldn't be killed, but I had to serve the Capitol for the rest of my life. I had to become a peacekeeper until I died. And there was no way that I could return home.

It saddened me to no end, because my family saw me begging for my life until those in power caved in and struck a deal with the Capitol and District Two. They had to see me at my lowest, and be charged with a crime that had been a huge mistake. They didn't know that though, they didn't need to know about it and they couldn't know about it.

Before I was hauled off by the peacekeepers, those merchants that I had stolen from had threatened me. They said that if I ever told anyone, peacekeeper or otherwise, or if their operation got shut down, they would slit the throats of my family. I wasn't going to risk their lives again, so I kept my mouth shut and I'll probably always keep it shut. For their sake.

But it was also for their sake that I become part of the system that was hated by damn near everyone in the district. I become part of the Capitol. Become a peacekeeper. I didn't like the peacekeepers as well, but I was going to swallow what little pride I had if it meant that my family would be safe both physically and in name.

And now I was here in District Two. Strange, I expected to be transported to the Capitol, where the peacekeepers came from. Was it just a pit stop or something?

"Welcome to District Two, Lawrence Varen." The young peacekeeper told me before he nodded his head to the side. I then noticed that the peacekeepers that had been escorting me were now leaving, walking away from the train station with a look that looked like they had a weight off their shoulders, leaving just myself and this young peacekeeper. "I'll be your guide until further notice." He took a pause before continuing. "Before we go on a tour of the district, got any questions?"

"Why am I in District Two?" I asked. "Isn't the Capitol the one that supplies peacekeepers?"

The young man just laughed as if I had just told him a joke. I didn't see what was so funny about it.

"Most of the Capitol citizens can hardly take care of themselves, and you think that they'd want to give up their luxurious lifestyle to come down and patrol districts?" I hadn't thought of it that way.

"Not really." I told him as I thought of the Capitol citizens that I had seen before, mainly escorts, and wondered why would they give up their comfortable lives and come to the districts. It now made sense why peacekeepers seemed different from the Capitol, even if they were supposed to be from there. "So peacekeepers aren't Capitol rejects? They're all from District Two?"

"Mostly." He answered. "Some Capitol citizens come to serve their country because they're in dept or something. But other than that, yeah, the vast majority of the peacekeeping forces are born and raised in good old District Two."

"Makes sense."

"Come on, let me show you around as I explain what you should expect in a few months."

He then started to take me around District Two, explaining about how they were the military of Panem and that they were also a masonry district, the role that District Two had in Panem, and showed me that many sights that were in the district. I told myself that I should learn where everything was since it was going to be my new home for, well, the rest of my life perhaps.

He only got to show me a little of the district, which was mostly the military section and the town square, before he started to get back to the reason that I was really here for. "So in a few months you'll be heading to basic peacekeeper training, and from the report that I've gotten, you've got to pass it, otherwise, it's back to your original punishment."

"Don't remind me." I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the pressure build up inside me. If I didn't become a peacekeeper at the next available opportunity, I would be sent back to District Eight and executed. I couldn't let that happen. "What do I have to do to pass?"

"For starters, how far can you run?" He asked.

"How far can I run?" I asked, wondering why he would ask me that. "Why?"

"You're going to find out that you have to run a lot during training. So much in fact that there's a reason why the drill instructors call them five mile fun runs." Drill instructors? Five miles?

"Five miles?" I asked, shocked at the distance. "Are you kidding me?"

"Remember, they're fun runs, so you're going to sometimes be running six or seven miles each morning."

"Each morning!"

"Four oh clock sharp."

Four in the morning! Ancestors. Are you crazy?"

"I guess we found out what you need to work on first." He commented. "Anyway, in order to just get in you need to be able to run five miles in thirty five minutes or less, march twelve miles in full military gear, which is around seventy pounds or more, eighty push ups in two minutes, eighty sit ups in two minutes, fifteen chin ups, be able to fight, and go a while without sleep." Holy crap. The running was bad enough, but from the sound of what I had to do just to get in sounded like I was going to die before I even got into the training. And what the heck were chin ups? Sit ups?

I looked at him, and he didn't look like he was kidding. "I would also mention that you'll only be eating one or two meals a day, but since you're from one of the poorer districts, I'm guessing you're ahead of the game." Was I going to even survive this? What have I gotten myself into? "Now come on, let's go see Commander Hurricane so that you can get measured and weighed and help him finish some of the application work."

***Five months later***

I had never been a fit person, so when my District Two peacekeeper escort, Quartz, put me through career training, I thought that I was going to die within the first couple of weeks. But I lived through it. But not without some humiliation.

Turns out that Quartz was serious about wanting to train me, so he did what he thought was best, teach me in the way that he had been trained. So what ended up happening was that I trained like a career, a career that went to school and learned how to fight and get in shape. I ran, did push ups, sit ups, combat, swimming, obstacle courses, and weaponry with teenagers. I went to class with them.

They wondered what someone like me was doing with them, and I had to wonder why I was with them as well. Wouldn't it of been better if Quartz had just trained me himself? Or got someone to train me privately? Apparently not.

At first, the only thing that the school kids did was wonder why a forty one year old man was in the training academy with them, doing classes with them. At first, they thought that I was their new instructor, until their instructor told them that I was going to be learning with them.

But it eventually lead to them mocking me for my lack of athletics. I could barley run a mile, couldn't do two pull ups, or do an obstacle course without falling on my ass. Couldn't even fight that well, and ended up having my face shoved into the floor more than once a day. I was a joke to them. I felt like a joke just being around them. Being late teenagers, they were in prime shape, and they had been trained their entire lives. I didn't belong there, and they knew it. I knew it.

It was a great change, and one that I hadn't willingly made.

There was a good side to it though, and it was that they feed me well. I may have gotten breakfast, lunch, and dinner back in District Eight, but the food in District Two was of better quality and quantity. It made sense, them being the Capitol lap dogs and a career district.

Quartz lived in the peacekeeper barracks, and nobody but peacekeepers could live in that building, so I lived with his mother, father, and two younger brothers, both in younger years than the class I was training with. Even so, they were still more athletic than I was. Still, they treated me right and gave me good food and shelter, so I didn't complain.

Everyday, I came to their home with bruises, cramps, and pain. It was horrible, and when the weekends came, I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. A break from all that training. I never been that tired in my life, and that was just after two weeks.

Now, as I have my hands in the freezing cold snow, sinking deeper ever so slowly with the chilly wind hitting the left side of my body as thick snowfall blew on my uniform, already wet from snow, slush, and sweat, I wished that I was back in the career training academy.

Peacekeeper training was so much harsher than academy training. Now instead of instructors trying to teach you by explaining things to you and demonstrating stuff until you eventually got it, we had drill instructors who shouted and swore a lot and physically attacked you and punished you for any, and every mistake that you made.

They also pushed you farther than you thought you could handle, but were too afraid to stop because of the physical and verbal abuse that you'd hear would make it seem so much worse.

I don't know if it was luck or not, but I ended up with the toughest drill instructor in District Two. Drill instructor Breezy, Commander Hurricane's little sister. I knew before hand that she was a tough instructor, thanks to Quartz filling me in on her. And even then I didn't expect her to be as tough as she was. For one thing, when she couldn't wake someone up, mainly me in the beginning, she would pour ice water on you, even though it was freezing cold outside. She had other sadistic methods that made you quickly fall in line, and they were effective.

She also liked to remind everyone that I wasn't of District Two origin, and that I was forty two years old, and say that I wasn't going to pass because I had been raised in a too comfortable lifestyle to handle being a peacekeeper. And at times, I nearly let those words get to me, because I felt as if that it was true, but I held my pain inside and tried to not show it.

I didn't belong here either, because most of these kids were half my age. Kids that had willingly signed up, not been forced to choose between life and death.

Normally, someone my age wouldn't have gotten in either, the cut off age for enlisting in the peacekeepers was twenty eight. So here I was, training with kids over a decade younger than me. Hell, I was older than drill instructor Breezy, who was in her early thirties. The only thing that I was better at than the kids was that I was able to fight through the hunger that they oh so hated.

To them it was pure agony. They bitched about how they were losing weight and how they felt so weak and were being starved to death because they were going through the rigorous activities that were being demanded of them. Meanwhile, I thought of home and found that while I wasn't living the way I had been back home not too recently, I wasn't affected as much as the career kids. It made me proud that I could do just that one thing better than them.

But even with that achievement, I was still at my lowest.

"Recruit!" I heard DI Breezy scream an instant before I saw her face in the corner of my right eye, her brimmed hat on my temple, sending melting snow streaking down my face. "Did I tell you to fucking stop pushing?"

"No Ma'am!" I answered, wondering how long I had been letting myself rest from doing some of the many push ups I should be doing.

"So why did you stop, recruit!" She continued to yell in my ear, sending a high pitched ring through my skull.

"Sorry Ma'am!" I answered as I let my body fall and push up again, ever so slowly, against the protests of my screaming, burning arms.

"I asked you a question, recruit!" She yelled. "Why did you stop? Answer me before I rip all of your god damn teeth out!"

"Tried, Ma'am!"

"You're tired?" DI Breezy said with mock surprise. "How many push ups have you done?"

"Seventy, Ma'am!"

"Seventy push ups." She said thoughtfully, right before she started to scream at me again. "Bitch, you will continue to do push ups until I get tired! You had your rest, now put it to some fucking use!"

"Yes Ma'am!" I shouted as I continued to slowly do ever more push ups against the objections my arms were sending to my brain.

I couldn't help but feel eyes glaring at me. Even though I got chewed out, they were still pissed that I got an opportunity to rest while they continued to abuse their arms.

I hated this. I hated all of this.

Waking up at four in the morning, before the sun even showed it's face, to do five mile runs, in the snow and slush, do other physical activities, learn about weapons and discipline and teamwork and military tactics and history and more physical training. Getting verbally and physically attacked by drill instructors and my fellow recruits. The physically and mental toll that peacekeeper basic training was taking on me. Nothing I did was ever good enough. I had to run faster, get better test scores, or pull myself up faster. Try to get one last punch in. I hated it all.

Some of the younger, fitter kids had already dropped out, and here I was, still here and doing what they couldn't do, and I still couldn't get any damn respect from these District Two folks. The only people in this district that had shown me any respect was Quartz, and Hurricane. What did I have to do for everyone to not hate me? Sure I was an outsider, but was I really that bad?

I was in the same position as you people. Harsh conditions with harsh instructors, shaved bald to look the same as you people while having my identity and dignity taken away from me. I was no longer Lawrence Varen, I was recruit. Just like the rest of you.

I looked at the girl to my right, and thought one thought. Whatever your name was, it no longer matters, the only thing you are is a recruit. Same as me.

I looked to the boy to my left, and thought the same thing. Same as me. He was the same as me, same as the girl to my right, and everyone else in this fucking training session.

We were the same, so why was I the only one that was being treated different?

As I heard instructor Breezy give an ear full to another recruit, I thought to myself that it doesn't really matter what those kids think. It doesn't matter what Breezy thinks of me. If they want me to fail, try as hard as you fucking please, I will not fail. Failing is not an option. If you all fail, you can all try again in the summer. I didn't have that option, I had to pass this training session, no second chances.

My family depended on me. I couldn't fail. Not with everything that I had almost done to them. Not after everything I had already done to them. I couldn't make this worse for them.

Thinking about the reason I was here, I continued to push my body up and down, ignoring the screaming agony of my arms threatening to break.

***Two and a half months later***

Graduation. I was finally done peacekeeper basic training, and honestly, it felt like one of the greatest achievement of my life. One of my proudest moments. The only time that I felt this happy was when my babies, June and December, were born. I was that happy.

When Commander Hurricane handed me my white uniform, clean and pressed, along with my helmet, boots, extendable baton, side arm and automatic rifle, I felt that things were going to be better. It was the start of a new life, and while I was going to miss my old life, I knew that it was for the better. For both my family and myself.

"Congratulations, Varen." Breezy said to me, talking to me like I was actually a human being. "You're a peacekeeper now." Those words were like no other. It was amazing. But at the same time, I was dreading the thought of being a peacekeeper.

Peacekeepers were hated by those back in the district. And why wouldn't they be? They harassed us and punished us, hurt us for every minor infraction that we did. Even worse was that they were fully willing to do it. They might not be Capitol, but it was worse to know that it was District Two, because they had sold themselves to the Capitol. Not only were they a career district, a place that thrives on the games, taking their winnings and making their lives better than they needed it to be. They were already living better than us, they didn't need any more money to support them. Those careers also killed our kids in the arena, leaving us to wonder if our children were ever going to return home.

If Districts One, Two, and Four were already Capitol lap dogs, District Two was definitely the Capitol ass kissers, and I was now a part of them.

Joy mixed with disgust. An odd combination.

"Thank you, Ma'am." I told her, feeling a bitter sweet taste in my mouth. I both hated and liked her. Hated her because she had abused me for fourteen weeks, pushing my body past it's breaking point, and making my life a living hell. But I liked her, because she transformed me into someone that I could have never been before. The old Lawrence would never have been able to do the training. And if there was one thing that kept me going, besides the fact that it was my life and my family's life on the line, it was the single sentence that she had once said to me. She had told me that our body is stronger than we think. That our body doesn't quit us, we quit our body. Pain is only in the mind. Those words were what kept me going.

When the last peacekeeper graduated had recovered their uniform, weapons, and equipment, Commander Hurricane, leader of the peacekeepers, and his sister, drill instructor Breezy, gave us a final speech about how this was going to be a new, exciting chapter in our lives before dismissing us.

Basic training was over, and I thanked my ancestors that I had managed to pass it.

Of the one hundred kids that had started training, only sixty were left. Did I feel the need to say that the one that they had made fun of so much had beaten them on their own turf? I did. But I didn't do it. The sight of me in a white uniform with the name Varen stitched on the right breast of my uniform would say enough. As I walked out of the parade grounds, I couldn't wait to get a look at their shocked faces.

***Three years later***

During my tour of District Three, I found out that I was wrong about the peacekeepers. They weren't the so called sadists that lived on our fear and pain. They weren't soulless, nor were they really bad people. Instead, I found that these kids and adults were just that, kids and adults. They were people, just like me.

Well, most of them were. The trouble makers, the real bad ones, they were sent to districts Ten, Eleven, and Twelve, where conditions were the harshest and where they would keep the locals in line the most.

District Ten because it was farm land and where most of the meat came from. District Eleven because of their agriculture. And District Twelve because it was a place that had given birth to the almost second rebellion. The Capitol didn't want District Twelve to rise up again, and because of the corruption that had been there before, the Capitol wanted to tighten it's hold on it.

I saw some of those psychos that were sent to those districts, and I knew that I would never want to cross their paths. Just looking into their eyes made me know that anyone that got on their bad side would be more than just sorry. Luckily, over three quarters of the peacekeeper force was made up of people that weren't like them.

Another good thing was that after I had earned my uniform, the folks of District Two started to see me as someone else other than the man from District Eight. Granted that it was mostly peacekeepers that saw me that way, but the hostility that had plagued me before was less intense.

There were still District Two civilians that couldn't believe that I had passed training, and they thought that I had somehow cheated, but it didn't really matter what they thought. I had passed. I had gone through hell and passed. And now, I knew better than to let their words get under my skin, because, what did they know?

"Lawrence?" A voice called out as the snapping of fingers in front of me drew me out of my trance. "You still alive, old man?" I chuckled a little bit before turning back to Quartz.

"You know it." I answered.

"Good, because I didn't want all my efforts to go to waste." I could feel the smile growing on my face as he pulled out some photos from his breast pocket. "I did what you asked for, checking up on your family I mean."

Quartz had recently come back from a tour in District Eight, and before he left for the tour, I asked him if he could see if my family was all right. He agreed, saying that he knew what it was like to go without family for a long while.

For me, it was going to be a very long while. And when he said that he was going to District Eight, I just had to know what they were up to, how they were doing without me. "They're doing all right." He said as he pushed the first couple photos towards me. " 's doing all right. Running a clothing store that actually gets a decent amount of costumers, and thieves. She recently found it in her best interest to hire a couple of civis to protect her goods after one too many thefts. Pays good too."

I remember the days. It used to be me that would chase the runts away.

Looking at the picture of my wife, short and dark haired, pretty, and tired looking, and thought of how we first meet.

My mother, after working in a factory for many years, was seen as someone that could move up in the ranks of the factory. Instead of being one of the low paying factory worker girls, she could move up and become a secretary that managed finances and that sort of thing. She was educated, and the managers finally took notice of her. It was higher paying job, and it meant that she didn't have to risk losing her fingers every day. She quickly agreed, as expected.

The problem though was that she needed something better to wear than the rags that she was so used to. So me, wanting to be the good son, and wanting a better life in general, went to the shop that was owned by the Varen's, and practically begged for that dress. I told them that I'd repay them back some day, told them that it was important that I get that dress for my mother.

The owners wouldn't budge, no matter what I bartered. It wasn't until one Janee Varen came to my rescue, telling her parents that a deal could be arranged. That I work for them for free, until the price of the dress had been repaid in full, plus interest.

Her parents didn't like the idea of me working in their up town shop. After all, I was of lower class than them. My family was poor, but we weren't starving. But there was still a noticeable difference between the oily clothes that I wore and the clean clothes that Janee Varen's family wore.

Her parents thought that it was a trick, but after some talk with their daughter, they eventually gave in and let me work with them, but always keeping an eye on me. They didn't need to worry though, I wasn't like some of the other poor people that resorted to crime. My family and I had been too worried about getting caught by the peacekeepers to try. That, and it just wasn't something that we really wanted to do anyway.

Much to my delight, my mother got the dress, got the job, and within about three weeks, we were able to pay the dress off. But I decided to stay and work with the Varen family, because working there was much more pleasant than working in a factory. And if I was completely honest, I liked being around Janee. She was nice and didn't look down on me like a rat.

We eventually got closer and closer, until we eventually got married. Her parents, while they still didn't like me all that much, didn't object. By then, my family was in the middle class, and we were all happy, more or less.

Touching the photos of my wife, working and stitching finishing touches on clothes, I found it rather amazing that we had actually gotten together. "Your daughters are also doing fine." Quartz said, interrupting my thoughts.

He pushed forward some more pictures, this time, two girls that were both eleven years old by now. "June and December Varen. Quite a pair they are. One's smart, and the other is good at athletics. One has lots of friends, the other doesn't. And the mother is more strict on the one that looks more like her."

"December?" I asked, pointing to the picture of December.

"Yeah, her." Quartz answered.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said with a shrug. "I'm not a stalker of little girls."

"Thank ancestors for that." I joked with a smile.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Quartz laughed as I looked at the pictures of my daughters.

I had left them when they were seven years old, and how they had changed since then. They were now bigger, growing into young woman. In one of the pictures, December was reading a school book, studying. I remembered her being a curious creature, and it appears to of done her some good. She was starting to look somewhat like her mother.

In another picture, June was running around with other kids, trying to grab a ribbon that was attached to their back. I remembered June being someone that was into athletics. She looked like she was having fun, and I was glad for that. I chuckled to myself, thinking that she was more ready for peacekeeper training now than I had been when I first arrived in District Two. While she had little of her mother's looks, she had some of my features.

"They've changed so much." I sighed as I looked at my little girls doing their thing. I wished that I could be there with them, reading to December and running with June and running the clothing shop with my wife.

"You think they've changed, take a look at yourself." Quartz then threw a photo on top of my daughter's, and in that photo was a man that I knew once. A man that had changed thanks to trying to be a good person. His name was, and still is, Lawrence Varen, but looking at the photo, I hardly recognized him.

The last time I looked at myself, I didn't look this soft, or that weak.

In the photo, I looked like an everyday family man with short and straight dark bronze hair. Light brown eyes of kindness and innocence with a well off body, by District Eight standards. Slender with some muscles, but nothing that was too noticeable.

The man that I saw in the mirror last night now had a completely different aura surrounding him. And the physical changes were just as noticeable. There were more lines across his face than there had been three years ago, his eyes were hardened, and whatever soft curves his face used to have were now roughed up. And his body was now in better shape than just about anyone in District Eight with broad shoulders and well toned muscles. He looked more like an old District Two career than the family man in the photo.

The man I am now looked more violent, unkind, and warrior like. Just like the peacekeepers that patrolled the streets of District Eight.

"Damn." I said with shock. "If I were to ever return to District Eight, would anyone recognize me? Would my own wife and daughters even recognize me?" I hardly recognized me. If they somehow see me one day, would they even know who they were looking at? Would they be able to see their husband or father, or would they just see another peacekeeper? The thought of somehow seeing my daughters, and them not seeing me, was a mental and physical pain that exceeded even that of peacekeeper training. The very thought of it made me want to cry.

"I'm not sure, Lawrence." Quartz answered honestly. "They're not expecting to see you ever again, and you left your daughters when they were seven. I wouldn't put it beyond them to recognize you, but there's still a big chance that they won't recognize you. Besides, what are the odds that you'll ever be able to interact with them again anyway?"

***Present day***

What are the odds indeed?

During my most recent tour of District Three, my comrades and I encounter a series of missing girls, all aged between twelve and fifteen. Nobody knew what was going on, and the case hit me pretty hard, having a couple of girls that were in that age category. I got too focused on that case for my own good, something that the other peacekeepers weren't doing. They were putting all their duties on equal ground more or less, while I was spending more and more time with that case.

I was getting too involved with the family members, trying too hard to solve the case, and as more than one of my comrades had said to me, it was taking a toll on my mind.

It was another one of the reasons why peacekeepers weren't allowed to have relationships, it was something to distract them from their overall duty. We were there to enforce the laws of the district, to protect the citizens of Panem, and make sure that the country kept on flowing. But one thing that they had drilled into us during basic training was that we were not supposed to get too close, or too involved, with the actual civilians of the district.

It was easy for me at first, but as time went on, it became harder and harder. I was too soft on most of the kids, and occasionally let people get away with petty crimes if I saw that they really needed to do the deed. Circumstances that reminded me of both District Eight and my family.

I did my best to be a serious peacekeeper, and about ninety nine percent of the time, I was. Being looked at with hatred by the civilians helped me remember that no matter what I did for whom, I wasn't one of them anymore. I found that I understood the peacekeepers just as much as I did the civilians.

The peacekeepers were not bad people, most of them doing it for money, because they needed a job, because they couldn't see themselves doing anything else back in District Two. They wanted to find a calling. After all, they had been trained for the games, and would have found life boring as a mason or a quarry worker. It was what they were breed for.

They were people, just like myself and anyone else that I encountered. I can't believe that it took becoming a peacekeeper to realize that. But then again, I was in a different state of mind back then.

But even so, even though the peacekeepers were loyal to the Capitol and to Panem, I was still divided between the common folk and the authority figures that I now called my brothers and sisters. I wasn't a civi, but I wasn't really a peacekeeper either.

Things would have been a lot simpler if I just minded my own damn business back home. But noooo, that stuff was too important for me to ignore, and I felt as if I had to do something, and this is where it landed me.

In the heart of District Three, trying to catch a kidnapper that adducted little girls.

I got a message from the head peacekeeper of District Three, saying that Commander Hurricane had shipped over some new faces for District Three, and that he needed me to take care of one of the new soldiers. And while I knew that it was them trying to distract me from the case, one of the things you learn during basic is that you follow the orders of those that are in charge of you. I took the new meat.

The kid that I had to look after was fresh out of basic training, and was only nineteen years old. His name was Marco Grey, and while he was a small kid by District Two standards, his attitude seemed to make up for it. He was foul mouthed and seemed to want to do things his way rather than the way others wanted him to do. I had a feeling that DI Breezy was not present during his basic peacekeeper training.

He was hard to get along with at first, but slowly but surly, I got him to calm down and learn to obey orders from those that were of higher rank. He was a good kid, dedicated, loyal, and while bitter, he was someone that I could count on. I got our head peacekeeper to put him in my squad. I liked him.

A while later, while my squad and I were out on patrol, we encountered a thirteen year old girl, bloody and bruised with clothes in tatters, running towards us, screaming for help.

I was the first one to reach her, and when I asked her what happened to her, I learned the fate of the girls that had been kidnapped.

My squad and I eventually made it to the lair of the monster, and found a horrific finding that made us all gag. It wasn't the sight of the decomposing, tied up bodies, or the severed limbs, or the bloody instruments that were laid out, or the gallons upon gallons of both fresh and dry blood that made us gag, it was the revolting smell that permeated the place.

Our criminal wasn't too smart, because he was in that room. Doing what I can't remember, the only thing I remember after seeing all those bloody and severed corpses of little girls was the memory of five of us peacekeepers fighting the sick bastard before tying him up and brining him over to our head peacekeeper, telling him what we discovered and waiting for him to give us the authority to perform a death sentence.

He went to the bastard's lair himself, and later got a call from President Frost, saying that we were to leave that monster alive and unharmed. There was outrage by both the public and peacekeepers alike, when we learned that he was to remain alive.

I was outraged myself, seeing at what Zap Philistone, who kept on insisting that his name was Tharizdun, had done to the district. If it were up to me, I would have shot that guy then and there, but it wasn't my choice, and there was nothing that any of us could do or say to change the president's mind.

Still, even though we couldn't kill him, we made his life a living hell. I mean, twenty seven victims, all girls between the ages of twelve and fifteen, raping them and taking a piece of them off before ripping their throat out with sharpened teeth. Burning his family home down so that they couldn't tell of his crimes if they ever did find out. Believing that he was a god and that that was what was protecting him from everything.

I laughed at his claims of being a god, some higher being was protecting him, but the president wasn't as high as the ancestors up above. I didn't know what the president had in store with him, but I had a feeling that it wasn't anything good.

And I was right. It wasn't anything good. Especially since my daughter was reaped.

Seeing her during the reaping re-caps made me wonder if those above us wanted to punish us because of what I had done eight years ago.

I thought that I had saved them by becoming a peacekeeper and not returning home, but I was wrong. I had saved them the shame of my deed, but I hadn't saved December's life. Fuck me in the ass with an assault rifle, my ancestors hadn't forgiven me.

Now December would never be able to grow up and live her life, all because of my stupid mistake.

What these people were doing to be right now was the least of my concerns. They could hit me, stab me, even shoot me, but whatever they wanted from me, I was not going to give in to their demands.

They managed to get me away from my comrades, and drag me into a room that was dimly light where the sun don't shine with solid grey walls and a cold floor that was soaked with water. They took my clothes away, and it only made the chillingly freezing air worse. I could hear the sound of a device that was venting in the cold air, and if it weren't for the warmth of the blood flowing out and down my body, pouring out of my mouth, and the pain that kept me from thinking about just how cold it really was in this room, I would know just how cold it really was.

Other than that, the room was mostly empty, save for myself being tied to a metal chair with tight chains that made my hands, arms, and legs feel like they were being crushed, and two other people. Capitol folks, as they weren't very good at inflecting me with pain and were wearing those ridiculous outfits of theirs. They hurt me all right, but they were squeamish about it.

There was a table of torture devices that they could choose from, but for the most part, they were worried about the blood and actually hurting me. They would yelp whenever they did something to me, and in general, they just didn't seem to be capable of doing much to me. Funny considering that those people practically lived for the Hunger Games, which involved kids getting hurt, bloodied, and killed. The worse the death, the bloodier the fight, the better. But they themselves couldn't handle doing the deed. Guess that's why they never had Capitol kids go into the games.

Even so, they managed to do some heavy damage to my body, even if it took them ancestors knows how long. Every part of my body hurt, and I'm pretty sure my left ankle, right hand and fingers, and maybe some other things were broken as well. I think some teeth were missing as well as I could feel something swimming in the lake of blood inside my mouth. Still, I wasn't going to give them what they wanted. They wanted me to take part in a job that I had no intention of doing. Nothing these pussies could do would change that.

"Leave us." A new voice called out, causing me to raise my head and look towards it. Whoever was talking was in the shadows, everything above their knees were blacked out because of the darkness. Her voice sounded high pitched, feminine, and child like. Who was that and how did she get in without making a sound?

"Yes Ma'am." The two voices said as one, a little too gratefully, before quickly running out of the room, thankful to not be doing the deeds that they had been doing to me. I didn't know wither to sigh in relief or not. I didn't, because for some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.

I heard the door to this room creak open noisily before it was repeated with an equally audible slam. That was when the new girl stepped forward, into the light. The sight of her was a shock to say the least.

Unlike the previous two, this girl looked more like she was fourteen or fifteen instead of being in their late twenties. With long, dirty blonde hair and skin that was a strange mixture of sick, slightly pale, and healthy, with a thin body, she looked more like a district kid than a Capitol one. She dressed fancy as well, though it was also more district fancy than Capitol. Suit, tie, dress shirt, dress pants and shoes, she looked like a teenager girl dressing up in her father's fancy outfit.

"It appears you've been uncooperative with my request, Lawrence Varen." She said as she came ever so closer to me. I found her child like voice to be somewhat unsettling. The hardness in her voice made her seem like a peacekeeper DI, something that a girl like her shouldn't be.

When she stopped walking, she was too close for comfort, and when she leaned down and looked at me right in the eyes, our foreheads almost touching, I could see that her eyes held nothing. They were empty, like her very soul had been sucked out of her body, taking every bit of emotion with it. As cold and hard as steel. "So I'll make this simple, for the both of us."

I then felt a sharp agony lance through the entire upper right section of my body as I felt something thick and hard squirm through the bullet hole in my chest. "I'm not like those pathetic gamemakers that were sent into torture you, and I know that no amount of pain will allow you to cave in to their demands."

I looked down and saw that the teenage girl had three of her fingers in my bullet wound. Her fingers were bigger than the wound itself, so my flesh was stretching, getting bigger, allowing more blood to spill. I didn't scream, but I did clench my teeth in an attempt to minimize the noise. "I have no problem doing this all day to you."

Then she pulled her fingers out, allowing the blood flow to resume at normal speed, but the torment she had inflected on me was still there. I let out a deep exhale of air, feeling the worst of the pain gone. "But again, as I said, it would do me no good."

Out of the top of my sights, I saw the girl lean back before she sat on my legs. A burning wildfire built up inside my legs as the weight of her fell upon me. This time, I did scream, because of the sheer agony that was being inflected upon me. She couldn't have been that heavy, but because of my injuries, and maybe because of a fractured leg, it felt as if this little girl weighed over two hundred pounds. It was not a good feeling to have this girl sit on my lap like I was her father about to tell her a story. "So here's the deal," She said with deadly seriousness. "You give in to our demands, or I'll make sure that your family never grows up happy."

"You can't do that." I challenged her, knowing that she was bluffing. She couldn't touch my family. She may be Capitol, but she didn't have that much power.

"Sure I can." She countered, wrapping her right arm around my shoulders. "It would be a simple matter for me to arrange for some District Twelve peacekeepers to be transported to District Eight, have them disguised as normal district people, and have them burn down your wife's clothing shop. But not before they all have a go at your wife and daughter, Janee and June I believe their names are? I wonder what their mental state of minds would be after getting gang raped by twenty psychotic men before seeing their entire future get burned before their eyes. And then, they'd have to live a life that only your side of the family has known, the poor side. Would you like them to fall back into what you lived like as a kid, Lawrence? Would you like that for your lovely wife and child? June isn't very smart, but she's still going to school because her mother can afford to send her. Her chance of getting a good job will disappear. She'd turn into your mother, if your mother wasn't educated."

"You can't do that." I repeated, knowing that her threats were empty. There was no way that she could do all that. Still, it shocked me to see just how much she knew. How did she discover so much about our history? "You are not an all powerful being."

"No." She told me in a not so disappointed voice. "But I am president of Panem, so I'm as close to one as I'll ever be."

Looking at this girl, claiming that she was President Frost, was almost comical. If it weren't for the situation I was in I might have laughed.

"You? The president?" I said in disbelief. "I highly doubt it."

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not," She told me. "All that matters is that I do have the power to make the threats I make a reality. And why do you doubt me anyway? Is it because of my looks? Come now, you don't expect me to be all crazy in the head like a lot of the air heads of the Capitol, do you?" She then paused for a moment before she looked like she remembered something. "Speaking of air heads, escorts aren't that alert, and avoxes can't talk, and everyone needs to sleep." She then reached into one of her jacket pockets and pulled out something that was of dark chocolate bronze colour, very curly, and very familiar in material. Hair.

As soon as she pulled it out, I knew exactly what it was. "A piece of Ember's hair." She confirmed, waving it in front of my face as I felt blood drain from my face. "I could have easily disposed of her in her sleep, but I'm going to let her die in the arena. After all, the gamemakers answer to me."

The girl claiming to be the president got off my legs, and I swore I could hear popping noise occur. It was a relief though, all that weight of my legs. "So you better think about two things while I'm gone. One: Do you want your little Ember to have a chance in the arena, or no chance at all? And two: You saw the faces of those that were trying to torture you, try to see if you recognize their gamemaker faces." A pause came. "I'll expect your answer the next time I come in."

And with that, she began to leave. Her body getting swallowed up by the darkness until nothing of her remained but her footsteps, which eventually got quieter and quieter, until the sound of metal grinding on metal occurred. Twice. After that, I was alone with my thoughts and the dim lights.

I kept thinking to myself, no, she can't do what she threatened of me. But then I remembered that the newly elected president never did show her face on T.V, so for all I know, she really was the president. Looks be damned.

And now that I thought about it, I did recognize those faces, they were two high ranking gamemakers that sometimes appeared on Capitol interviews. Fuck! Maybe she really was telling the truth!

Damn! Damn! Double Damn! My family was at risk again. And this time, with a worse fate than before.

My daughter was going into the arena, and Frost could easily kill her at a moment's notice. I could give her a chance to live, even if just a slim one. It was better than allowing her to just die. After all, there was nothing I could do for her in the arena, so the best I could do was give her the best shot that she could get.

As for Janee and June, I did not want them to get gang raped, or have their shop set on fire, or live the life that my mother, father, and those before them had lived before the great change my family got offered. No. I didn't want them to live that way.

With all that thought of, I knew what my decision was going to be, and I couldn't help but cry.

Ancestors forgive me.

**A/N: Did I do his history some justice? I don't know, it's up to you.**

**Before I leave for my vay-cay, I hope to post at least one more chapter. That chapter being the chapter before the bloodbath.**

**To ClovesShinyKnife: Thanks. Glad you like it.**


	17. Orientation

**"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. It comes from friends and loved ones." -Anonymous**

**District Seven's Sami Lavisa's POV**

With the amount of noise that had been going on outside my bed room, I just couldn't get to sleep. Sure it was noisier at times back home in District Seven when the mills and lumberjacks were working overtime during the busy production times. Those sounds were both louder, more intense, and ran all night long, but this was a different kind of noise. Instead of machines and tools disturbing my rest, the noise came from a person. A person that had been yelling, swearing, threatening, and utterly destroying everything in her path.

That person was my female mentor, Amber Littlewood. Always angry and always mean, she seemed to take pleasure in putting Bo and I down, saying that we didn't have what it took to get out of the arena alive. Said that the only things we were good for was making the arena that much more blood filled. Said that I was going to rely on Aerin and Angel too much, that I was just going to be a burden to them.

Sure I was a decent trap builder, but she told me that gathering food would only do so much. There would be a time where I would need to fight someone, to kill someone, wither I wanted to or not. She didn't think that I had it in me. She didn't think Bo had it in him either.

Going back to our reapings, she told us to take a look at ourselves, the scared boy and girl that had gotten reaped and were crying on stage, not uttering a word to each other. To say that I didn't make a good first impression would have been an understatement. And because we didn't talk back, she would always assume that she was right.

But she wasn't always right though. She was right in her own opinion, and some others might think that she was right as well, but I knew that she wasn't right when she said that I was going to be a burden to Aerin and Angel. I was going to be an asset, someone that could help them.

Just because she killed all the opposing tributes in the fifth quarter quell in a mere eighteen hours didn't mean that games couldn't go on for longer than that. Games can go on for days, weeks even. If gamemakers didn't interfere with the arena, I had a feeling that games could last well over a month.

Killing didn't mean everything. And when I found the courage to tell Amber that, she merely laughed. She treated it as a joke, and from the way that she was looking at me with that laugh, I felt like a joke.

"Lookie here," She said with a smirk. "She can talk. And here I thought that she was just some carrot brained retard." To which then her smirk disappeared, and was replied with the cold look that she normally plastered on her face. "Now, what did you just say?" Her voice hard and rough, scaring me. "I just thought I heard you say something really stupid. Repeat that. Please."

I didn't want to, but seeing Aerin stand up to Griffin, as well as talking to the rest of them, I didn't want to stay silent, like I had done for most of my life.

I was nervous around people, but at the same time, it was also a choice not to talk to people. I had to help take care of my siblings and sick mother. Dad was busy working out in the fields so often that we hardly ever saw him. And when we did get to see him, he was usually too tired to even do anything with us. I knew that he needed his rest though, so I didn't bother him.

Mom said that I should try and make some friends, but I'm not good around people, and the only people that I seem to be around are adults anyway, and most of them don't want anything to do with a teenage girl. Well, nothing in terms of friendship anyway.

So I did the work that was asked of me, which was making paper in the paper mill. It wasn't a comfortable job, but it was a job neither the less.

Now looking at Amber's challenging eyes, and thinking of how Aerin had done the same to Griffin, and how I had helped Aerin out despite my fear, I decided to speak up.

"I'm not useless." I told my female mentor. "Because killing doesn't mean everything."

"Don't give me that shit!" She shouted at me, causing me to jump back with fright. "If you can't fight, than you're nothing but a burden! A body just waiting to die! Just you wait. When your precious allies die, you'll be dead soon, because nobody will be there to do the dirty work for you. You have to learn the harsh reality girl!"

"Do you have any friends?" I asked unexpectedly. It was sudden, and it surprised me. I didn't mean to ask that, didn't even think about it. I was scared of her, I knew that she was violent and that one wrong thing could grant me death. She may have been shorter than me, but she looked so much meaner, and stronger. But I said it anyway.

"What?" She asked, both angry and confused.

"Do you have any friends?" I repeated, thinking of how Aerin, Angel, and I were a team. We helped each other, and how we weren't going into the arena alone. "People that can help pick you up when you're down?"

Then before I could even form another thought, a fist smashed against the wall to my left. I didn't need to look over to know that Amber had her fist in the wall, literally.

With fear overcoming my body and mind, I ran from her, not wanting to get hit by her.

"That's right bitch! Run away! Coward! Useless cunt!"

Later that night, I could hear Amber trying to get Bo to fight her, only for the noise to suddenly stop. And though the noise was gone, the sound of Amber's violence continued to haunt my thoughts.

I wondered if it would be like this in the arena. Having someone like her, like Griffin, come after us because of something that we did. The thought of how strong, violent Griffin roaming the arena searching for my allies and I caused me to think of just how much danger we were in. It was bad enough that we were going to go into the arena, but we had unintentially painted a target on our backs. Even if the rest of the careers ignored us, Griffin was one of, if not the deadliest career this year.

I couldn't sleep. Not with the thought of danger hanging over me. And also, because Amber was right. I could help Aerin and Angel with foliage, but what it we needed to fight. I couldn't just stand around and let them get brutalized, I'd need to help them. Kill if necessary.

This wasn't going to be like back home, where people generally left me alone. This was life or death. I couldn't be a burden, just like how I couldn't be a burden to my family.

A couple of gentle knocks occurred at my door. So gentle that I almost didn't hear them.

"Sami." A male voice gently called out. "You still awake?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"Can I come in?" The voice asked.

"Sure." I told him. I got up and unlocked the door, allowing my male mentor, Barker Fabian, to come into my room.

"Can't sleep?" He asked as I closed my door.

"Not really." I told him, thinking of home and Amber and my allies and Griffin.

"Thought so." He sighed. I turned towards him, and noticed that he had something in his hands. A clear glass filled with a bright yellow and bold orange liquid. "The noise that Amber was making, I don't think anyone but myself and our escort can sleep through her rampages." I nodded, thinking of how those two were the ones that would always have to put up with her. At least, until either he or Amber stopped mentoring and our escort got promoted or demoted. "Anyway, I'm sorry that she's still causing you stress."

"It's all right." I told him, even though I thought that what she did was unnecessary.

"No." He said. "It's not okay. Amber should be acting like a proper mentor, but really, she can't, because violence is all she knows."

"Rough family?" I asked, thinking about how some people are shaped by their environments.

"Amber's parents were some of the kindest people that I had ever met." Barker answered. "It's not anyone's fault that Amber turned out the way she did, it's her own, and even then that's not entirely true. There's something wrong with her, she's unstable and not right in the head." I nodded, having thought about that more than once. I mean, how could someone like her be right?

A moment of pause came before my mentor continued. "Anyway, the reason I'm here." He then cleared his throat before walking over to my bed stand and placing the clear liquid on it. "That's to help you sleep." He explained. "Its tea with a sleep remedy in it. You're going to need your rest for tomorrow. I gave one to Bo as well."

"Thanks." I told him, thankful that he was thinking of us tributes. He was a lot kinder than Amber. He actually seemed to try and help us.

He nodded before he walked back to the door, opened it, and turned back to me.

"By the way. I think Amber's wrong about you being a burden to your allies. Your smart and your caring and I think you're all lucky to have each other. I like them. They got you to open up." With that being said, he closed the door. I locked it behind me, just in case Amber resumed whatever she had been doing before.

Going over to Barker's gift, I drank the tea, it was sweet tasting and it was hot enough to be enjoyed, but cold enough that it didn't burn my tongue, and laid in my bed, thinking of what he said about me opening up.

Yeah. I guess I had. It started with Angel, then moved on to Aerin. And while I was still uncomfortable around people, I was talking more than I had been before. Especially with my allies. They encouraged me to speak up, and weren't harsh on me either. Didn't force me to do or say anything, letting me go at my own pace.

They were good people, and I'm glad that they're my allies. I can't think of any other kids I'd want to go into the arena with.

With this feeling of calm washing over me, I closed my eyes, and let myself slip into the pleasant darkness.

My head hurt. That was the first thought that I had when I came to.

I don't remember my head ever hurting when I wake up. What happened?

I then remembered that stuff that Barker had given me. Sleep aid he had said it was. Sweet tea with a sleep remedy in it. It did help me sleep, I remember that much, but was it supposed to give me a headache? I remembered having sleep remedy before. It didn't work as fast as the one I had been given back in the Capitol, but it had never made my head hurt either.

My eyes were closed, and really, I didn't want to open them. They were heavy and my eyes seemed dry. I was still a little tired, but I knew that I wasn't going to be sleeping anymore. It was a strange sensation. Feeling tired but at the same time, not.

I moved my body around, wanting to roll into a more comfortable position, but I quickly found that I couldn't. My arms refused to move, and so did my legs. I then began to feel something cold and hard pressing against my chest, just below my breasts. Curiosity took over as thoughts entered my head. What were those things? Why were they hard and cold?

Opening my eyes a crack, I tried to look at my surroundings. It wasn't much, as it was blurry and oval like. I forced them open some more, despite the protests of my eyes, and found the world a little more clearer and bigger.

I could see a metal floor, clean and metallic grey. Though it was less dressed up and fancy than the Capitol rooms I had seen on my way to the Capitol, I knew where I was now. I was on a train. But what was I doing on a train? Hadn't I been in bed in the Capitol before I had fallen asleep?

Now I was confused. Just what was going on here?

I looked up, to see that in front of me was my district partner, Bo Heatherfield, sitting in a metal chair that was holding him up due to a circular band wrapped around his chest that was connected to the wall behind him. His head was slumped forward, and I think the only reason his head wasn't on his legs was because of that band. Also attached to him were metal bands that were wrapped around his wrists, arms, ankles, and knees.

Beside to his right was Ricky Coler. To his left was Dav Anders. All of them had the same restrains on them and all were unaware of what was happening. I looked to my right and saw Ember Varen, to my left was Rayne Page, their heads also tilted.

We were in row by our district numbers. One through twelve, boys in one row, girls in the other.

Were they bringing us some place?

"So you know what you have to do, right?" A voice to my left asked, causing my head to snap in that direction. There, I saw a girl with long, dirty blond hair, standing at the now open door at the end of the train car. Her back was turned away from me, and she hadn't seen that I was awake. Not wanting her to see that I was awake, I quickly closed my eyes and relaxed my neck, hoping that I looked asleep. "Is everything in place?"

"Yes." I heard an older man's voice say. "I'm going to give those kids that damn orientation, along with Joesiah, traumatizing them before they even get into the arena, and then I'm going to take off, and you'll leave my family alone."

"That about sums it up, yeah." The girl, much younger than him, around our age by the sounds of it, stated. "Your tool will be where I told you it'll be, and you will use it correctly, otherwise the deal's off."

"I can't believe I'm going to do this." The man sighed.

"You could always back off, get your family's life ruined, kill your little girl, it makes no difference to me. I could do this myself, but its better that you do it."

"You know you won't get away with this, right?" The man challenged.

"Yes I will," The girl arrogantly told him. "I've already got a cover story all made up. Rebel supporter, attempting to get a civilian uprising, trust me, that's all they'll need to know to believe me. Hurricane is already in the palm of my hand, so that's one more way they'll believe me. And even if they don't buy the story, they don't know what I look like, so how will they ever find me? How will they ever prove that any of this ever happened? How can they say that what I say is a lie?"

"Bitch." The man spat.

"Just do your job and everything will be all right." She said before the sound of a door shutting occurred. "Now then," She sighed. "Let's make sure the finishing touches are ready for you little children."

I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. What was that man talking about? Why was his family in danger? What was this orientation that they were talking about? What did a District Ten victor have to do with this? What was she going to do with us? Who are they?

I kept on trying to figure those questions out, when suddenly, I felt a sharp, burning pain spear through the right part of my neck, causing me to shout in pain. "The hell?" The girl said in an almost shocked voice. I opened my eyes to see that it was a girl with long, dirty blonde hair, around my age, in a full male suit. Tie and dress shirt included.

A thick syringe was in her hand, and there was a pulsing pain in the side right of my neck. What did she put in me? "How long were you awake?" She snarled harshly, grabbing my neck with her free hand, her grip so strong that it felt as if she was crushing the bones in my neck. "How much did you hear?"

I tried to speak, but with her hand strength, the lack of air, and the amount of fear I was experiencing, I couldn't speak to save my life. The way she looked at me terrified me as well, she didn't look like she was in a good mood and her eyes seemed to be soulless. So faded blue they almost looked grey.

I gasped and tried to utter something, anything, but nothing would come out. Then just as quickly as it started, she released, allowing me to suck in the sweet sweet air again. "Guess it doesn't matter." I heard her say before everything went black.

"Sami." A voice calls out. It's distorted and sounds far away. It sounded male. Jhono? Is that you?

Ugh. Did I fall asleep again? "Sami?" The voice called again, this time, it was only slightly less messed up and a little bit closer.

There was an intense pain in the left side of my left side of my face. Did I fall down? I don't remember falling, or being tired. What happened?

I then thought of what had been going through my mind earlier. Hunger Games. The arena. A nightmare. I had been having a nightmare. I had gotten reaped for the games, and I was probably going to the arena.

Well, I'm glad that it's only a dream. I don't remember why I'm so tired, but I guess taking care of you and Gracie just took its toll on me again. How's mom doing? Has dad come home yet? What time is it? "Sami?" The voice called out again. Why do you sound so weird Jhono? "Sami!" A familiar voice shouted out. I recognized that voice with horror, and hearing that guy's voice made my eyes snap open as I gasped out in shock.

With my eyes open, I was looking at Aerin Sevani, one of my allies for the Hunger Games. Realizing that this all wasn't a dream, I looked around, and recognized the other tributes that were room that Aerin and I were also in. Everyone seemed to be just waking up. Groaning and talking lightly.

Looking at the room, I found that it was a large circular black room, bigger than my house, that was brightly lit. At the walls of the room, set in equal length apart, were clear silver tubes that looked big enough to fit a person. I knew where we were now, the launch room. The room that tributes get sent to before they enter the arena.

But I thought that it was just the tribute and their stylist that went into that room, not all the tributes at once. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen. There were supposed to be separate launch rooms, not one whole one. "Sami," I heard Aerin say again, causing me to turn towards him, again. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." I told him, though whatever hope I had been feeling earlier had been shattered. "Why?"

"It's just that," He started, paused for a second, then continued. "You've got this big bruise on the side of your face."

"What?" I asked, confused, until I remembered that the left side of my face was indeed hurting. I reached up to touch it, and it stung just feeling it.

"What happened?" Aerin asked, concerned about me. I wish I knew what had happened.

"I don't k-"

The sharp, loud cracks of gunshots echoed throughout the room, causing several gasps and little screams of fright to occur, along with Aerin to quickly grab me and hold me tight, like he was trying to protect me. For some reason, that only scared me more.

"Are you all awake?" Another familiar voice yelled out. It was that voice from the train, the man that had been talking with that girl before I had blacked out. Aerin's grip relaxed a little, and I allowed myself to look over his shoulder, seeing a man that was in horrible shape.

He wore a simple t-shirt and pants, but those didn't hide the damage that had been done to his face and other areas. His was a mess with black and purple swelling covering nearly half his face. Pieces of scalp were missing from his head, and there were pieces of his face that were crudely stitched back together. The same type of bruising cascaded down both his arms. In his left hand was a handgun, his right hand and fingers looked crushed and mangled beyond repair without Capitol surgery.

Tortured. This man had been tortured.

Beside him was another familiar face, the District Ten victor, Joesiah Herzig, also a mess, but in a different kind of way.

Nearly sixty years old, winner of the ninety eighth Hunger Games, this man had won by pretending to be a tree. Eventually, he began to act just like one. He let nature take its course on him. Hair like a rat's nest with a beard of the same description, dirty, and unmoving, his looked like he was dead of everything. Emotion, feeling, even life itself. How anyone could have gotten into that state I have no idea.

The injured man with the gun scanned the room before he continued. "Good. Now we can begin this fucking orientation."

That word. Orientation. Him and that girl had been discussing that while I was awake. Now I was finally going to see what it was. I didn't like this, not one bit. I had a bad feeling about this.

Looking around the room, there was a mixture of confusion and fear among the tributes.

Some were just confused, like Griffin and Lucifer. Some were more fearful, like Bo and Life.

"What's going on here?" Someone shouted. I, along with everyone else, looked in the direction of where the voice had came from, and found that Rayne Page was the one that asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Everyone turned back to the man, waiting for answers. All he did was sigh before talking again.

"Who I am isn't important, all you need to know is that I'm here how to teach you how to play the Hunger Games before releasing you into the arena."

As Aerin turned away from me, another voice sounded out.

"We all know how to play the games," The voice of Howl Draconix told him. "And if someone here doesn't, well, then they're the biggest retard in the world."

That was true, everyone knew how to play the Hunger Games. Go into the arena and survive until only one if left. Live or die, almost as simple as that. Gamemakers can change the circumstances.

Even though there are technically no rules in the arena, you do something that the Capitol doesn't like, they'll screw you over.

"This year is different." The man explained. I couldn't help but notice that some of his teeth were missing. "This year will be more...Natural. Meaning that there'll be less interference from the Capitol. Yes, there will still be mutts and there will still be traps, but the rules have changed as well." That seemed to peak everyone attention. Mine included. "As you all know, there are unspoken rules in the arena. Well those unspoken rules can now be broken, you can do anything, and everything in the arena. No holding back, everything is allowed."

Nobody seemed to respond. But as I looked around, I could see two individuals that were smiling. One was the white haired, red eyed tribute, Alexander Natas. The other was the hulking figure of Tharizdun. Both seemed more than pleased to hear that little bit of news.

"You hear that bitches!" Alexander shouted gleefully. "Everything's allowed, get prepared t-" BAM! A gunshot rang through the air an instant after a hole appeared inches away from Alexander's feet. Alexander jumped back just after the gunshot occurred, along with several other tributes.

"If you don't have a fucking question," The man shouted with irritation. "Don't fucking speak!"

Silence surrounded the room before Alexander broke the silence again.

"You can't kill us!" He countered, pointing to the gunman. "We're tributes, you can't kill us before we enter the arena."

"No." The man stated calmly. "But when you get into the arena, all bets are off."

"So I could kill you right here and now?" The deep voice of Tharizdun asked with joy.

"Try it and find you'll find your heart exploding within your chest." All of us looked confused as he spoke that. What did he mean by that? How could that happen? "I see you're all confused. Well, let's just say you were injected with a device that dug its way to your heart, and will detonate at the press of a button."

I reached up to the side of my neck, remembering the pain of the syringe that the girl had poked me with.

"You're lying." Dav Anders accused.

"You willing to try it?" The man asked. Nobody responded.

"He's not lying." I whispered to Aerin. "We really do have things in ou-"

"Got something to say ?" The gunman loudly asked. I heard myself squeak with fear the second he spoke.

"No." I heard myself say in a quick, high pitched squeal.

"Then shush," He harshly told me. "We're on a schedule, and it's best to not keep the Capitol waiting." He then looked towards the District Ten victor with a look that I could only think of as pity, and sighed. The District Ten mentor had not responded in any way throughout this event. "The Capitol wants you to know what you're fighting against. What you're fighting for."

Then without any warning, I saw the man point the handgun towards Joesiah Herzig before a loud pop occurred, and a thick mess of blood, bone, and brain sprayed out of the victor's head.

I could hear the screams of several tributes around me, myself included, sound out before the body even hit the floor with a wet crack, further spilling the grotesque contents to the floor.

While I don't think that anyone in this room really had any strong feelings for Joesiah Herzig, I don't think that he deserved to be executed like that. The way that that man had acted was calm, like the victor meant nothing to him. That taking a life was nothing more than chopping a piece of wood.

And while I didn't have any strong feelings for the victor, a life was still a life, and how easily it had been taken away just now... God.

I reached out and clutched onto Aerin's shoulders, finding support with him as I felt my eyes start to burn as I felt something turning around in my stomach, threatening to rise up to my mouth. Feeling a little faint didn't help either.

I could hear the sobs of some of the other tributes in the room, some giving out little gasps, still in shock. I couldn't blame them, I was feeling sick and faint. The only reason I wasn't falling over was because I was using Aerin as support.

"That's how much your lives are worth to the Capitol." The man barked at us. "So make the most of it, and maybe you'll make it out alive."

As tears built up in my eyes, I thought of how peacekeepers had killed back in our district. I had seen them do it, but back then, I knew that as long as I obeyed the law, I was going to live. But now, I could die just as easily as they had.

With sickening realization, I felt the stuff in my chest rise up before I felt the acidic burn of vomit course through my mouth. I felt Aerin's body move away from me as my hands loosened from his shoulders, but I quickly felt something grab on to me gently.

"It's okay Sami," He said, rubbing the back of my head as other tributes vomited as well. "It's okay." It made me feel better, but at the same time, not really.

**District Eight's Lawrence Varen's POV**

This was a sick orientation. That much was obvious.

Here I was, forcing kids to witness a murder right in front of their eyes before they were sent into the arena, and right in front of my daughter no less. She was on her knees, vomiting right on the floor, no doubt wondering who I was, who I had turned into.

I didn't want this. I didn't want this at all. But with what was a stake, what could I do? President Frost had me in her hands. I couldn't go back and shoot her, no, that would have been too easy. And besides, there would be consequences for trying such a thing. Instead, I was stuck here, making my daughter believe that I was a monster. A complete and utter monster.

Frost wanted me to kill Joesiah for two reasons. One, he was seen as a useless piece of work, a burden, someone that needed to be ridded of. Second, to try and get the tributes to fight harder, for them to remember that their lives were at stake. Sure they had already known that, but I was here to pound it into them that they die as easily as him. Frost wanted them to see the value of life, motivate them to fight, to survive.

I don't know if she wanted a quicker game, but I do know that she wanted them to be more willing to survive. And as she said, she wanted to open their eyes if they weren't open already.

Looking at the scattered reactions of the kids, I could see them all thinking differently. Tharizdun and Alexander looking at the corpse with disturbing interest. Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl looking calm and only the littlest bit fazed. Shoney, Eva, Lynsa and Arrowe looking less calm and more shocked, but still relatively fine considering the circumstances. Life, Aerin, Angel, and Eve looked shocked, but not surprised, like they were used to this kind of thing, and probably were because of where they were from. Meanwhile, everyone else either tearing up, vomiting, or both. The degree varied from person to person, with Nessa being the worst and Rayne being the one that was handling it the best.

Some of those crying were whispering to themselves, others were silent. Some got support from others. I could see Max next to Nessa, Life and Rayne together, Aerin and Angel and Sami holding on to each other. I honestly wanted to go over and hug my daughter, my December, and tell her that this wasn't what it looked liked. But I couldn't. It wasn't fair. I had made one mistake. One mistake of trying to help. Fuck.

I fought back tears as I raised the handgun and the air and fired a couple of shots into the air, knowing that time was running out. It got their attention.

"All of you, get up! Get the fuck up!" I fired another shot in the air, and soon, they were all running. Most of them scattered like rats, but the alliances stuck together. "Get to the right launch pads!" I yelled, firing off another shot next to the District Eleven alliance, breaking them apart. "They're marked for your convenience!"

Most of them continued to run around blindly, but after some of the more rational ones started to guide them and they started to calm down ever so slightly, they began to find the tubes they were supposed to enter.

Even though I didn't want to, I ran up to Tharizdun, hitting him hard in the back with the butt of my weapon. "Hey shit face!" I shouted to him. He turned around and faced me before I threw something at him.

He caught it swiftly with his right hand, looked at it, and I could see that he reconized it. It took a little time, but his smile eventually came to him. "From the president herself." I told him before walking away.

That thing that I had given him was a necklace. It was his token before we had taken it away from him back during the train ride. Why? Because it was made of human finger bones. Not only could it be used as a weapon in the arena, but it wasn't something that was deemed inapproprate at the time. I mean, who wanted to see someone wearing human remains as a kind of trophy? So it was contraband material until now.

I looked around, finding that everything was going as well as it should have. At least one thing was going right. But then I set eyes on my daughter. She hadn't moved from her spot, and she was looking at me with a look that was mixed with shock, betrayal, and denial. The look in her eyes wanted me to tell her that this wasn't real. It broke my heart. It made me feel sick and want to puke.

Pointing the weapon at her with shaking hands, I barked a command at her. "Move!" Fired a shot, missing her, and she quickly leaped up and moved. I'm sorry December. I really am.

I looked around, and saw that nearly all the tributes were in their tubes, my daughter being the odd one out, but she quickly fell into place. Thank ancestors for that, I didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't.

Seconds passed, but it seemed like an eternity when the pods finally closed. They were going into the arena.

I don't know what they'll face, or what Frost has planned for them, but I do know is that with that bastard Tharizdun inside... December.

I grunted heavily at the thought. I didn't want her to become like those kids back in that basement back in District Three. I didn't really want any of those kids to become like that. But what could I do to stop it?

My daughter continued to look at me through the clear tube, and I continued to look at her. Her eyes, I didn't want to look at her eyes, but I continued to do so anyway. I... Ugh.

Stop looking at me. Please. Just... Stop looking at me December. This shouldn't be the way that we depart from each other, not like this. This isn't a side of me that you should see. Instead, I should be holding you lovingly, telling you how much you've grown and asking if you've been taking care of your mother and sister. Asking if there's still some of the child that I left all those years ago, or if you've changed. I should be doing many things with you, and shooting at you, swearing at you, killing people in front of you, and sending you into the arena this way was not any of those things.

Their launch pads then began to slow move up, and they would soon be in the arena.

I guess this is goodbye baby. I wasn't a good father, and I'm sorry for that. I wish I could have been there with you growing up. Shit luck that we had to meet under these circumstances, huh.

As December continued to rise, I thought of her sister, June, and her mother, Janee. I loved them too, and I was doing this for them.

I never meant for any of this to happen. I just want what's best for them.

Sighing while wiping what little was leaking from my eyes with my arms, I knew what I had to do. Ancestors forgive me.

I'm sorry babies.

I pointed my weapon to my head.

I love you. All of you.

Is that December I hea-

**A/N: Well, I would of liked to of gotten the bloodbath chapter done before this point in time, but, this is the best that I can do. Anyway, now I'm about to go on vacation, and while it's going to be three weeks long or something, I don't know if the month of January will be very merciful to me. So yeah, don't expect anything until February or something. Anything that I get out before then is pure luck.**

**Now, I shall post this, wait about a half hour, then start messaging some people.**

**By the way, check out the story's blog for character pictures. Blog link in my profile. Will probabaly update it on a later date with pictures of mentors. Warning: Tribute pictures might not be head canon in looks.**

**End of Part One: The Tributes.**

**Next up: Part Two: Just a Game.**


	18. Bloodbath Part 1

**"Americans love to read about violence." -Bernadine Dohrn**

**District Eight's December "Ember" Juliet Varen's POV**

My father. My father wasn't acting right. No. The man in front of me wasn't my father, I knew that it couldn't be him. He wasn't crazy nor was he a murderer, so it couldn't be him, right? I didn't want it to be, but I couldn't deny what was right in front of me. This man, though he might be covered in swelling bruises and look like someone that was more dead than alive, but I knew that it was him. After all, even though his face and body was different, I recognized him, it's hard for you to forget what your family looks like, even if he had left early in my life.

As much as I didn't want it to be, that person in front of me, that person that had murdered that mentor, was my father.

Why did he turn out that way? What drove him to shoot at us? To murder that man? To act like a mad man? None of this made any sense, and I wanted to know why he was this way. I wanted to know how he had suddenly transformed from being the kind man that I remembered, to this... This monster.

Did it have something to do with those bruises? Those horrible, horrible injuries that snaked down his body and puffed out like plums growing out of his body? If so, what had done that to him? Who had done that to him? And for what purpose? And why him? Was it just bad luck that he had gotten chosen to show us that cruel orientation? Or was it an act from above for no other reason or purpose than to make our family suffer?

Our ancestors, they really had a way of making people pay for their crimes. Theft, that was all he was guilty of, so why were they causing him so much harm? Why were they causing me so much harm, seeing him like this?

I didn't want to think that. Those injuries, the way that he looked at me before he fired his gun at me, I don't think that he liked doing it anymore than I liked seeing him that way. He was tortured into doing it, I'm sure of it. But again, I wondered by who, or what, and why. What was the purpose of this? We knew how to play the games. We didn't need a demonstration to know that there was going to be killing, going to be death. We knew that already, so why? Why did this have to occur?

The only thing that was different was that we were told that some rules were going to be broken. What rules though? The unofficial rules? The rules that everyone knew about, but never talked about?

This game was going to feel more natural, he said that. But would this game really be any different than the normal years? We didn't need a fucking murder to know what every year brought. It was all natural. Kids killing kids in an arena that was isolated from civilization, all the while, the entire nation watches. What was it going to be the more natural part? No hidden cameras anywhere?

No. That would never happen, they always broadcasted the action to the country of Panem for a reason. They wouldn't suddenly stop nearly one hundred and forty years of this for the benefit of the game being more natural. No, the Capitol liked showing us as powerless victims at our lowest in an effort to show how weak we really are. The only way it could be more natural is if there's no mutts or gamemaker traps, and my father said that there were still going to be mutts and traps around. Just less.

More natural, but not completely. Wouldn't that just bore the audience, something that the Capitol wanted to avoid?

Whatever the reason, why did my father have to get involved? Was the Capitol so weak willed that they refused to do the dirty work themselves? Just like how they avoided making their own clothes and made the people of my district do it for them? Was my father only here because the Capitol couldn't stand the thought of doing actual work? Of actually having to stand up and do something?

A victim. That's what my father was. Another victim of the Capitol, chosen against his will to do something that he didn't want to do. Just like us. For what real reason I did not know, all I knew was that the man I had talked to days ago was hidden behind a man that had been beaten and forcefully tailored into something that was needed. Like a clean white T-shirt being turned into a grey collared shirt.

As the disk below me started to rise, leading me up to the arena, I let my tears flow freely. This could be the last time I see him, the last time that I never speak to him again, and all I got from him is that small talk from him during the second day of training, and now this.

He pointed a gun at me, shoot at me, threatened me, shouted at me. It felt as if my emotions were being assaulted and my heart was being stabbed. My chest was tight, and if it weren't for the deathtrap that I was going into soon, I would of fell to the floor and just cried there until ancestors knows how long. Because right now, there was almost nothing more that I wanted to do.

Looking at my dad now, I didn't want to see that beaten and battered man that the Capitol had made him into, I wanted to see the man that he really was. But it was kind of hard to see that when he was pointing his gun to his head.

Pointing a gun to his head? Why was he...

No! No! NO!

"No!" I shouted as I slammed my palm onto the clear glass that separated me from the room my father was in. "No! No! No! No!" He can't kill himself! It's not his fault!

Please dad! Don't do it! I already lost yo- BANG!

The sound of the gunshot exploded through the air, and just like that, everything seemed to slow down. I saw the path the bullet took. The bullet took the most sadistic path it could take. Starting with the point of the gun pointed right under his right cheekbone, the bullet smashed right through his teeth, tore through his cheekbone, then through his lower skull, into his brain, until it drilled through the upper left portion of his head.

Blood and gore exploded out of his head as I saw pieces of shattered teeth and bone fly out of him as well. I could see every speck of blood traveling out of him, every bit of carnage seemed to be more detailed than normal. And because time had slowed down for some reason, nature gave me time to watch the entire scene in horror.

I got to see the blood create patterns as it traveled out of his head and fell to the floor, got to see his body fall to the floor like a broken machine, I even got to see the life swiftly drift out of him. I swore that I saw some kind of life in him, even after the bullet exited his head. But then in less than a second, all that life got drained from him.

I didn't get to see his body hit the floor, the walls that suddenly appeared made it impossible to see him. But I knew that he would hit the floor soon, I could see it in my imagination. He would hit the floor, and his head would further crack open, exposing more of his insides. And there he would lay until someone drags him out. How long would that be though? Would he even get that? Would the Capitol even care?

The thought of his body just laying there, rotting until the end of time, made me angry. His death made me sad, and those two emotions collided as I pounded on the glass in front of me, crying, wanting to break it so that I could go to his body and so something with it. Anything but leaving it to rot in some room that nobody was going to visit.

Hit the glass as I might, I couldn't even crack it. Tears continued to sting my eyes as my thoughts started to race again.

I didn't think you'd betray me too. First my friends, then June, then mom. I didn't want to think that you betrayed me as well when you stole from that merchant. But you did. Not just then.

Letting my hand slid down the smooth glass, I thought, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

**District Eleven's Aerin Sevani's POV**

That guy. I though he was going to kill us, or at the very least injure us, shoot us maybe. After all, a bullet to the leg would be a crippling wound that would severely hold one back, and kill them if they didn't treat it soon enough, or if it hit a particularly bad place.

That guy, he had the eyes of a desperate man, and sometimes, those kinds of people can be more dangerous than those who are just plain bad. I should know, District Eleven is full of those types of people. Desperate. I should count my lucky stars that he didn't shoot anyone, just at them. But boy did it scare me.

Not only that, but I knew that that man had killed people even before he had executed Joesiah Herzig. A man that had already killed mixed in with desperate were two deadly combinations.

My heart's still racing from the encounter, and I could feel my breathing still going strong. But I wasn't worried about me, not completely, I was more worried for Sami and Angel. How were they holding up? Angel was probably better off than Sami due to living in District Eleven, like me, having to see those types of things growing up. But Sami, what was it like in District Seven? I don't think it's as bad as Eleven, nothing could be as bad as Eleven.

Sami screamed and cried and puked on me when the District Ten mentored was murdered, so that kind of thing probably doesn't happen all that often in her district. The poor girl, must have been scared out of her wits. I'm glad that I was there to comfort her. And what of that bruise that was just under her eye? Where did that come from? It was big, and really swollen, so whatever had hit her was either large, powerful, or both.

I'm worried for her, hopefully I can find something for it at the bloodbath. Either some kind of cream, or something in a backpack. Maybe we can find something outside the bloodbath field? If the arena is like a hospital or a forest or something that offers some kind of remedy, it could help us if no medical supplies are supplied at the bloodbath. It was going to be a pain for her later, so the sooner we get rid of it the better. I didn't want her in anymore pain than she needed to be.

And speaking of that, I wondered what the arena was going to be. Aside from the question that murderer downstairs had risen up, and wondering if Sami and Angel were all right, that was the main question that was floating in my mind as I rode up to the unknown. What kind of arena were we going to go into?

Were we going to be in an ice cold mountain range? An island with an active volcano? A desert where you could see your enemies from great distances? A wild forest? I hoped that it wasn't going to be an open kind of arena where you could see long distances. The problem with those types of arena was that there were few places to hide. You could see your enemies, but they could also see you. There were disadvantages, but also advantages. That type of arena would make it hard for tributes to sneak up on each other, and since I had two allies, it would be even harder for them to sneak up on us.

But who says that it's an open fielded arena? What if it's something so densely thick with something that you couldn't see anything until it was within reach of you? What if it's someplace you can't see the danger until it's too late to even run away or form a plan?

I hoped that it wasn't one of those two extremes, I didn't want paranoia taking over us. It was bad enough in District Eleven, who knows how it'll affect us in the arena.

An unknown environment. It was sounding worse and worse the more I thought of it, and honestly, I was getting more and more worried. But what were the odds that they were going to be chosen?

Capitol audiences tended to dislike those types of arenas. So we were probably safe from that.

Though what did that guy say during that orientation? That the arena would be more natural? What did that mean? That question was like an itch in the back of my mind. Sure he said less mutts, less traps, and there were going to be no rules for real, but was there anything else that we should know? What did the arena have to offer us thi-

Sunlight. Bright sunlight shone right into my eyes, blinding me and forcing me to raise my hands and shield my eyes from the powerful rays. It was still too bright to handle, so I had to turn my body away as well.

Damn, it was bright. What were the gamemakers trying to do? Blind us with an overly bright sun? I didn't like this, how were we supposed to navigate around an arena that we couldn't see? What were we going to do in an arena that blinded us? Move around with our eyes closed? Wave our arms around until we found each other? It made me think of that one District Ten mentor, Sable her name was. Was this arena going to be like hers? But instead of absolute darkness, we were in the light.

This was worse than I had thought. We weren't in a place where we couldn't see the enemy until it was too late, we were in a place where we couldn't see them at all!

Wait Aerin, it can't be that bad. It's just the sun, it's probably like when you're looking directly at the sun, or you come out of a dark place into the high noon too soon. Yeah, that's probably it.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I heard this year's announcer excitedly shout from what seemed like everywhere. "Let the one hundred and thirty ninth Hunger Games begin!"

Calming myself down, I turned my head back forwards and slowly removed my hand from my face, letting my eyes adjust to the sunlight. It didn't take long, I was temporarily blinded at first, but then my vision steadily got better. I was able to see clearer and clearer, the lines and blobs that swirled in front of me disappeared, and my eyes hurt less and less.

I was able to see clearly, but I blinked a couple of times before I was able to see what was in front of me without my eyes hurting as much.

As I looked ahead of me, I could see the golden horn, the cornucopia shining in the morning light. The sun had not yet risen the entire way, so that's how I knew that it wasn't yet noon. That, and the games always begin at the same time, ten in the morning. That's what I assumed it was.

Around the shining cornucopia were the scattered supplies provided for us. Of course, the ones that were close to us were the items that were helpful, but not very comfortable. As you get closer to the cornucopia, you start to get small knives and small backpacks, and farther still were the larger backpack and survival equipment that would offer some kind of comfort that was as close to home as you might get from supplies.

The closer you get to the cornucopia the better the supplies. I mean, close to me is a sheet of plastic that can protect me against the rain, but up close to the horn is a tent that'll protect me from anything that nature challenges me with.

It's dangerous to even think about getting that far ahead with the careers and all. But if you could get out alive, it'll be well worth it.

Past the supplies were the tributes that we were used to seeing now. All of us separated, from each other, the order of the tributes seemed to be chosen at random. I could see Sami and Angel over to my far right with half of Sami's body blocked by the cornucopia. They were close to each other, just two tributes away from each other.

Taking the same to look at them, I saw that they were looking at me as well. I shook my head, and they nodded their heads. They understood. We were sticking to the plan, and if something went wrong, they were to continue on. Hopefully things would go sour, but just in case, there was a plan for that as well.

I looked beyond the tributes and the cornucopia and saw that ahead of me was a city. At first I thought that it was the Capitol, but as I looked closer, I saw that it wasn't the Capitol. Actually, it was like the Capitol, but it was like an old, ruined, abandoned Capitol city that was being overrun with nature.

Buildings, some bigger than others, I could see that they were beginning to cracking due to nature's attack on them. Vines were encrusted in the sides of buildings with individual, or small groups of green vines winding their way up the concrete, metal, and glass. The vines reminded me of the costumes that Angel and I wore during the chariot tours.

Some of windows were destroyed, but some, not many, but some, were still undamaged, exposing the abandoned insides of the buildings. They were too far to see in detail, but I could tell that they were dirty with things tossed about. Vines invaded some of those spaces as well.

There were some noticeably tall buildings, most of them rectangular, but others were like lances stuck to each other with a metal band wrapped at the top to keep the ones on angles steady. Towers I think they're called. They were made of metal, so I guessed that they were rusting in the distance.

I couldn't see much of what was ground level, but from what I could see from the cornucopia, it was much of the same as what I could see here. Grass, moss, and trees growing out of the concrete. And they weren't forest trees, but jungle trees. Trees with smooth bark and huge leaves.

It was almost like back home. A bit more like the Capitol than District Eleven, but still like home in a way. Nature and civilization mixed together.

If I ignored the cornucopia and supplies in front of me, I could almost imagine that I was home. The heat of the mid day sun, the humid air, and the songs of the mocking jays in the distance, it reminded me of the harvests back home. Wither that was a good thing or a bad thing I couldn't decide. I missed my home, but at the same time, there were things that I didn't like about home.

I looked behind me to see that there was a forest like area. It was filled with trees and thick with nature. Much more natural than the abandoned city that was in front of me.

Just like home. Part nature, part civilization.

What part were we going to go towards? Both places had their advantages. If we stuck to the plan, I knew which way Sami and Angel were going to run towards, but could I be sure?

But then an explosion shattered my thoughts. Startled, I looked over to see what had happened. After all, what was an explosion doing here?

**District Five's Alexander Natas's POV**

Hahahahahahaha! That stupid fat ass from Twelve ran off the platform before the gong had even sounded. What the hell was he thinking? Was he actually so stupid that he didn't know that the land mines were there? Or did he simply want to die?

Whatever his decision was, it was okay with me. The sight of that fat boy on his bloody back, howling and crying in agony as he grabbed the ruined stumps of what was now his non-existent legs.

As dirt, dark crimson, and pieces of flesh rained down on the ground from his vaporized legs, blood was spraying violently out of where his legs used to be. Strips flesh and muscle were exposed to the world, and I swore I could see fragments of bone imbedded into his skin. Or maybe those were pieces of bone that were sticking out of his flesh. A broken pelvis or whatever was left of his legs. Metal fragments were buried into his flesh as well.

Some of his hip and ass were black and dark red from the burns of the landmine explosion, but it didn't matter, blood still sprayed out in every direction. The pressure so powerful that it squirted out from between his fingers. Hell, the kid himself was getting painted with his own blood because of his own hands.

As the ground was being mixed with the colours of red, brown, and green, I saw the girl from Eight, Ember she called herself, pull up her shirt and vomit into it. Guess she still had some left over from the orientation.

Lots of kids couldn't contain themselves during that, puking and crying when that mentor got killed. I knew that those kids wouldn't win, or even make it far. If they couldn't handle a death in front of them, there was no way that they were going to kill someone. They would hesitate, and that would be the death of them.

No. The people who were going to win were the people that could handle death. People that could kill. People that could stand getting blood on their hands. People like me.

Thinking of the way that those pathetic tributes acted before, and the way that girl was acting just now, it reminded me of my stylist and the conversation we had recently had.

"Do you have a token?" She had asked last night.

"Do I need one?" I asked, not caring in the least about a token. Why would I want something that reminded me of home when I despised the very place that I was forced to call home?

"Everyone has one but you." She told me in a matter of fact tone. I looked at her before I said to her.

"Didn't know I needed one." I then picked up the closest knife to me. It wasn't a sharp knife, its main purpose was to cut soft food, but it would do for the situation. My stylist looked scared, like I was going to do something to her, but she seemed to relax a little when I started to cut a part of my hair in a sawing motion.

It had taken some time, but I managed to slice a chunk of my hair off. I then held my hair in my left palm, before I placed the blade of the knife onto my palm, and with one swift movement, slit open my hand. The stylist looked shocked at my action, but what could you expect from someone like her?

I then squeezed my injured palm tightly, allowing more blood to flow out of the wound. A couple moments passed before I opened my hand to her, showing off my white hair and open palm, both now stained with blood. "Red and white," I said to her shocked face. "The colours that make me who I am."

Red and white, the colours that would become the main focus of the arena. Like right now, red was the ground because of the fat boy and his stupidity. White was what he was becoming from his blood loss.

His cries already getting weaker and weaker. The blood flow steadily getting slower and slower. Blood was starting to leak out of his mouth. He'd be dead soon, that much was certain.

Another thing that was certain was that another tribute was going to die. I just had to wait another thirty seconds or so.

Twenty seconds. I looked over at my target, and she had this oh so scared and worried expression on her face.

Ten seconds. I knew what I was going to do with her when I caught her. It was so clear in my mind that I could almost see and feel it right now. It gave me the shivers of delight. After all, she deserved every second of it.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Then the gong sounded.

As soon as I heard that sound, I sprinted towards the closest backpack in front of me, ignoring the other tributes that were running about. They all came from every direction, but I was focused on one person and one person only.

Within seconds, I was within reach of a small, dark blue backpack. Without slowing down, I grabbed it by one of the straps and turned on my heels in a semi-circle. Now facing my target, I threw my arm up to shoulder height and threw my free arm through the strap before doing the same with my opposite arm, securing the backpack onto its respected place.

Now that I had a backpack with me, I could now focus on that bitch Valerie. She was running away, slowly. So slowly that it made me want to laugh, I don't think she ever ran in her life she looked so pathetic. I'm surprised that she isn't dead already. But she soon would be.

She was trying to escape the chaos of the bloodbath, but little did she know that it wasn't going to help her, because even if she could run fast, I wasn't going to let her get away. After all, her and her father had made my life a living hell back in District Five, and it was time for a little pay back. She was going to pay for the crimes of both herself and her father.

I sprinted towards her, and for every step she took, I gained five. I easily caught up to her before I reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled it back. Valerie came to a sudden and painful halt as she gave out a high pitched shriek and fell to the ground. The only thing that was keeping her head up was my hand pulling on her hair.

I felt and heard chunks of hair be ripped from her scalp as she started to cry out in pain. It gave me some satisfaction that I had hurt her so early on. I felt a smile appear on my face as my plan became more and more of a reality.

Valerie fought against my grip, but her hands were weak and ineffective, more annoying than anything else, just like everything else about her. Her screams and cries the only thing that I thought weren't annoying. "Thought you could escape?" I growled before I slammed my knee into her back, causing her to arch back with a small gasp. "Thought you could get away?" I then pulled her head to the right, the pain of getting her hair pulled forced her to follow. Her body soon found itself on the ground.

Taking a moment to relish that Valerie was literally below me, I slowly pulled her head back before quickly slamming her face onto the ground with all my might. A wet crunch was heard, and a scream occurred from her mouth. The ground might be covered with moss, but below it was hard earth and concrete, perfect for breaking someone's nose.

I quickly slammed Valerie's face into the ground one last time, the crunch even wetter than before, before I wrapped my left arm around her throat and started to drag her away from the bloodbath field and towards the forest. "You're coming with me." I told her as she struggled against me, but she was too weak to even put up much of a fight. Her attacks were pitiful.

She was shouting at me, begging me to let her go, but I wasn't going to have any of that. She should know better as well, she wasn't going to get out of this no matter how much she begged and cried. She and I were going to have a lot of fun in the thick, isolated forest where I could do whatever I wanted to her.

I wanted this. I wanted this so bad. I had wanted it for so long.

All of a sudden, the sound of her voice stopped. The sweet sounds of agony that were coming from her mouth had disappeared. What had happened?

I looked around her body, and saw that her face was splattered with red liquid, her mouth was open agape, her eyes were wide, and a throwing knife was wedged into her head. Just above her left eye.

I looked up to where I thought the knife had came from, and saw the little twelve year old girl from Two looking in my direction. She was holding two throwing knives in her left hand, actively tossing one into her right. Was she the one that took my prey? The one that I had wanted to have fun with for so long? Damn it!

I then saw her lift her right arm up, reading the throwing knife in her hand. Was she going to throw it at me? It sure looked like it.

Lifting Valerie's body up, I used her as a shield while retreating to the forest. I heard a knife flying through the air before the sound of steel stabbing into flesh occurred. At least Valerie had been good for something. But...

Damn you girl. Damn you. You just had to take away my fun, didn't you?

**District Nine's Talliana Messine's POV**

I ran towards the bloodbath the second the gong went off. I didn't waste any time thinking of what I could do, should do, or try to do, I just did. I knew that I needed something, anything that would help me survive. I needed something, backpack, a weapon at least. That's where I'm headed to right now, heading towards a weapon that's in front of me right now.

Sure it was sort of deep into the bloodbath field, but I was quick on my feet, so I could get in and out before, hopefully, someone notices me. But with twenty two other tributes running around, that scared me. I couldn't keep track of all of them, and I didn't know where most of them were.

Just... Just get out of there Talliana. Get your supplies and get out of there. In and out before it gets any more dangerous.

It's starting to get too dangerous now. I have to get out of here, take my chances without a weapon or supplies. I was thinking of abandoning the cornucopia when something caught my eye, a large grey backpack that could contain anything, just fifteen feet away from me.

Sighing with relief, I ran towards that backpack, knowing that it would help me later on. I hoped that it contained food, liquid, and a small, one handed weapon, like a dagger or something of that sort.

I raced towards the backpack, disparate to get out of the bloodbath before it was too late. I needed to get away, quickly, the longer I was here the higher the risk of being killed was.

I quickly got to the backpack and grabbed it by one of its shoulder straps before I started to run away from the cornucopia, when suddenly, I felt myself run into something solid. The unexpected run in brought me onto my butt.

Dazed, I looked up in fear, and saw my district partner, Arrowe Winter, staring down at me. In his hand was a seven inch combat knife. Fear radiated throughout my body as we locked eyes with each other. My entire body shook thinking about the position that I was in.

Arrowe was with the careers, and what do careers and their allies do? They kill anyone that isn't in their alliance. I wasn't one of their allies, and now with him in front of me, knew that there were only two choices for me. Fight and run, or surrender and die. And I didn't want to die.

I was ready to swing the backpack at my district partner when Arrowe twirled the knife backwards and stabbed himself in the side. To say that I was shocked would have been most accurate. Why in the world had he done that?

As Arrowe gave out a suppressed shout through his clamped teeth, Arrowe reached out, grabbed my arm, and forced me to my feet with one powerful yank.

"Get out of here, Talliana!" He half shouted half moaned. All I could do was look at him in shock. "What are you waiting for?" I then saw him pull back his left arm before I saw his elbow being swung at me. A flash of bright colours exploded in my vision as I felt a wave of pain erupt through my teeth. "Run! Now! Now!"

I don't know why Arrowe was doing what he was doing, but I also knew that I shouldn't care. For whatever reason, he was letting me live, and I should be getting out of here. If a career comes, they weren't going to act as nice as Arrowe.

Turning tail, I did what Arrowe told me to do, I ran.

**District Nine's Arrowe Winter's POV**

Talliana.

She was my district partner, and I didn't want to kill her. Not only because she was my district partner, but because I liked her as well. The time I had spent with her during our time in the Capitol was fun for the both of us.

And now, killing her now, during the bloodbath, that wasn't me. Sure I'd have to kill someone sooner or later, but I didn't want my first to be her. There were no careers around, so nobody was here to see me stab myself with my knife. I could claim that Talliana had stabbed me and gotten away, that hopefully should convince the careers.

This was going to be a bitch later on, but it was manageable. The careers hopefully have some kind of medicine with them, so this shouldn't be that big of a deal. That is, if they didn't spot me stabbing myself.

Why was Talliana on the ground when you suddenly got wounded? What makes you think that I was wounded while she was on the ground? I got stabbed when she ran into me, and didn't notice until after she had fallen on the ground.

Whatever the careers were going to ask, I was ready.

Talliana, you better be thankful for this, I just took a risk for you, so you better use this opportunity to get your ass out of here before something happens.

And that's what she did, she ran away. Good. Run away Talliana, get as far away from this place as you can.

I felt a smile crawl on my face as I fell to my knees. Good, she's getting aw-

Talliana suddenly spun around in a half circle before she fell to the ground, thick blood sprayed from her mouth, and the reason for that was because of a huge, muscular, mace wielding guy from District One. Griffin was standing in front of Talliana with a mace that was now partly blood stained.

I looked down at Talliana with horror and saw that nearly the entire left side of my district partner's face had the flesh stripped off of it. Because of Griffin's mace, I could see the muscle and bone that was quickly being covered by blood, but even then I could see that her cheekbone had been shattered. Talliana screamed with pain as her hands went over to cup the injured part of her face. But even with her hands firmly pressed on her face, the blood kept on flowing, painting her hands with thick, dark red water.

As Talliana quickly scrambled to her feet, Griffin readied his mace once again. Talliana got to her feet pretty darn fast, but Griffin handled the heavy weapon like it weighed half its weight. Talliana got to her feet, but the mace wielding tribute's weapon smashed onto her back, causing her to stumble and nearly fall over, but she managed to stay on her feet and continue to run.

Talliana ran in the worst direction she could have ran, she ran towards the cornucopia, towards the danger zone. She wasn't thinking, survival was overriding her thought process.

Go back! I wanted to shout with rage. Go back!

My district partner raced past me, and I pretended to try and grab her, but she was too far for me to reach, and got away. Griffin was hot on her tail. But it wasn't Griffin that she should be worried about right now, it was Lucifer. From the very edge of my sight, I saw that the District Two career was running to her side.

Then without warning, Lucifer got within range of Talliana, then with a seven inch combat knife, Lucifer, quick as a flash, stabbed Talliana in the back before turning on his heels, and stabbed her in the side of the neck. My district partner fell to the ground as Lucifer ran towards me and grabbed my left arm and pulled me up.

"There's still more tributes to kill!" He shouted. "Get moving!"

I wanted to tell him that there was a fucking knife in my body, but the words got caught in my mouth as I saw Griffin ready his mace to swing down at Talliana, who was chocking on a mouth full of blood.

Then within the span of a couple of seconds, Talliana went from a girl dying, to a girl who had her head burst open. Everything from her upper jaw upwards got turned into chunky paste as bits of blood and brain splattered the ground, Griffin's mace, and Griffin himself.

Dear God. Talliana.

**District Two's Lucifer Despar's POV**

Arrowe wouldn't move, so I moved for him. There were still lots of tributes to kill, and none of them were making it easy. The tributes seemed to either be smart or scared this year, as not many of them were running for the cornucopia, just us and a few brave souls, like that Talliana girl that I had stabbed so that Griffin could finish her off.

This was no laughing matter, if we didn't kill some more tributes, they were going to be a problem later on when we have to track them down in the arena.

Whipping my head left and right, I spotted a tribute, and not just any tribute, but a high target one. Aerin. He was running towards a medium sized backpack, and he already had two large ones over his shoulders. I couldn't help but smile that he was a greedy little bastard. He thought that he could just take all the supplies from us? He was wrong, and that was going to be his down fall. I was going to finish him here and now! Let's see how his allies do without him around!

I sprinted towards him, rapidly closing the distance between us.

I had a plan already formed in my head to take him down. I was going to get close to him and end him with a quick stab to the throat. He was over encumbered with the three backpacks of his. He couldn't run properly, and I don't think he'd be able to defend himself properly either. This was going to be too easy.

Within seconds I was within range of Aerin. I pulled my arm back and was ready to strike his face with a lethal blow. Goodbye Aerin, I thought as I stabbed at his throat.

Only for me to hit nothing. Aerin had seen me at the last second, and had moved at right before I had delivered the killing blow. Not only that, but my arm was now between Aerin's head and the backpack strap that he was holding. The only thing that I managed to cut was some of the fabric of the backpack he had just grabbed. Even worse, the knife was stupidly tangled in some of the now exposed threads! How in the-

I cut through the fabric and was about to pull back my arm and slice his face open, but before I could even do that, I felt Aerin's arm strike behind my elbow, causing the knife to jerk away from his face. His arm then locked with my arm before I felt myself get spun around and get forced onto my back. Aerin had slammed me onto the ground so hard that all the air in my lungs rushed out as I struggled to breathe. I felt my head get clouded with confusion.

I then saw Aerin kneel down on my chest, pressing out what little air I had breathed in and made it even harder to breathe. The tribute from Eleven then pulled back his fist, and while I knew what he was doing, my body couldn't react fast enough because of the pain I was experiencing in my back and lungs and head.

Bright stars engulfed my vision as I felt him rapidly hit my face once, twice, thrice, frice. Pain was the only thing my face and body knew as it suddenly became easier to breathe.

Fuck! Get back here Aerin!

I tried to get up, but my body wouldn't respond to my commands. Fuck! He's getting away!

I breathed in and out, feeling the air I was breathing burning my insides.

**District Six's Rayne Page's POV**

Most tributes probably would have not done what I had just done. I ran straight towards the center of chaos and grabbed the biggest backpack that I saw. Most would have called it suicide, most would think that I was crazy, and maybe I was crazy, and maybe it was suicide. Where I was running to was where the careers and their allies gathered around, and it was probably the most dangerous spot in the bloodbath. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. That big backpack, it could hold life saving materials, so whatever fear was building up inside me, I told it to fuck off and leave me alone.

I was a fast runner as well, and with twenty two other tributes running around, I wasn't going to be the only target for the careers. So I ran towards the backpack and didn't look back.

I managed to reach the backpack quickly, and I was glad that nobody had gotten in my way.

Unzipping the backpack, I reached inside of it and hoped that it would contain a weapon. A backpack this size has got to contain a weapon, right? I felt something inside the backpack that felt like a hard plastic handle. I pulled the thing out of the backpack, and allowed a smile to appear on my face. I was happy with what I saw. It was a medium length, bladed weapon forged with steel. A machete.

It wasn't the kukri that I was hoping for, but this would do. It was a good weapon, and one that was more than powerful enough to deliver some serious damage to anyone that happened to cross paths with me.

Zipping up my backpack and hitching it onto my back, I quickly sprinted away from the bloodbath field towards the city part of the arena. I could see my ally, Life Lee, waving to me. She was in the open enough for me to see her, but she wasn't exposing herself too much so that everyone could see her. Good thing we agreed where to go during the count down. It would have caused problems if I went one way and she went another.

As I ran, I could see that both District Nine tributes were injured, and the District One male was attacking the girl. Half her face bloody and stripped of most of her flesh. Perfect, they were distracted, I now have to hope that a different career doesn't see me. I turned my head away and refocused on my running.

I got closer and closer to life, I waved my arm, telling her to start running, and she did. We weren't going to stick around here any longer than we needed to. We didn't need careers finding us and chasing us.

I nearly made it to the edge of the ruined city when I felt a brick wall hit me on my left side. I got knocked onto my side and scrapped my right side and shoulder against the ground. I endured some rough pain before I looked up, angrily wondering what had just hit me as I rubbed my shoulder. I then saw just what had run into me, my district partner, Ricky Coler.

Fuck. He just had to get in my way, knock me down, and have me slide painfully on the ground just now, didn't he.

Ricky was beginning to get up, and for some reason, it seemed as if he hadn't noticed me. That stupid bitch, didn't he know that he ran into me? Apparently not.

I managed to get to turn around and fully face my district partner by the time he was nearly up on his feet. He was about to run, but I didn't give him the chance to run. I swung my machete at his right leg, and the sharpened steel cut through his shin, causing him to howl in agony before he dropped down to his knee.

I then swung again at him, this time, slicing into the back of his thigh. Again, he gave a shout of pain as I used my momentum to help myself get to my feet faster.

When I got to my feet, I looked down at my kneeling opponent and saw that he had finally noticed me. Fear was in those dark eyes of his, and he knew that it was the end of him.

I lifted my machete high above my head, ready to sink it into his head and spill his brains. But he moved out of the path of the blade, ducked and moved to my right, causing my weapon to miss him. Mostly.

Ricky had moved quickly, but not quickly enough, because while I missed his skull, I managed to slice through some of his scalp and cut off half of his right ear. A large piece that looked like a dried, bloody, hairy banana peel fall from the right side of his head. A red river slowly appeared from the crown of his head to just above his ear. Blood poured from his ear wound.

Damn. He moved out of the way.

As he reached over to try and stop the blood flowing from his head and ear, I twisted my body to swing at him again, and yet again, aimed at his face. But once again, Ricky dodged death. This time, he held out his right hand in defence, causing my machete to sever most of his thumb before the machete cleanly sliced through the majority of his palm.

Again he screamed. I hissed in annoyance as I pulled my machete out from his palm. The near severed hand hung onto his body by only a piece of stubborn skin and muscle. Blood sprayed from the injury.

Fucking hell, I'm ending this, I've got no time to play around.

With my left hand, I grabbed my district partner by the shirt collar, pulled him forwards, and with all the strength I could muster, thrust my machete straight into his chest, sending nearly two feet of steel through his left lung. The resistance of hard bone nearly stopped my machete from going all the way through, but when the blood stained end of my weapon burst out of his back, I felt satisfaction in what I had done.

Ricky, surprisingly, didn't scream from that, or maybe it was because he was already yelling in pain from his previous injuries. Either way, he was going to be dead soon.

Ricky continued to look at me with those dying eyes of his, like he couldn't believe that I had actually caused harm to him.

"Told you I was going to kill you." I said to him before I twisted my machete and pulled it out of his body.

I then turned my back on him and ran towards the city to meet with my ally.

**District Twelve's Evanlyn "Eve" Scott's POV**

I knew what I had to do.

I had done it so many times back home that it practically felt like the right thing to do. Stealing. That's the way that I had made enough money so that my family and I could live in District Twelve. I did not want to work in the mines, and because of Hale's accident in the mines, it made me want to go work in there even less.

My twin brother, Matthew, was planning on applying for work in the mines next year, and nothing any of us said could make him change his mind. But if I win this game, he won't have to put his life in danger like Hale did.

Looking at what was in front of me, I knew that it was dangerous, but when was stealing ever safe? When I stole from anyone it wasn't safe. When I stole from the head peacekeeper and the mayor, it was even more dangerous. But I did it anyway, because I had to.

Back home, I was desperate enough to steal from them, and right now, I was desperate enough to steal from the one in front of me as well. I didn't have anything with me, no items or anything. I didn't take the risk of heading into the bloodbath field and try to get supplies. Instead, I ran. I turned and ran into the forest area of the arena and didn't look back.

And here I was, hiding in the forest, wondering what to do when an opportunity presented itself in the form of a backpack.

Yes, I needed a backpack and whatever was inside of it. It would give me a better chance of winning, and would probably make being in the arena a little more bearable. If it had a weapon inside of it, I'd be able to feel a little bit safer. And if someone did attack me, I'd be able to defend myself that much better. Food and water, those would help as well. I felt hope.

There was just one problem though, the backpack was being held by another tribute. And not just any tribute, but one Aerin Sevani. He had two large backpacks and one medium sized backpack, one for him and his two allies.

I was surprised that he managed to get that much from the bloodbath and still be standing. I started to wonder how he could have done such a thing but quickly decided that it didn't matter how he did or didn't get those backpacks. What mattered was how I was going to get one from him.

Looking at him and facing the basic facts about the two of us, I knew that I couldn't beat Aerin in a straight on brawl. Aerin was much stronger than I was, and coming from District Eleven, he most likely knew how to use farming tools effectively. If he manages to pull out a knife, or a sickle, or some other kind of farming tool from those backpacks of his I'd stand even less of a chance.

No, I couldn't just go up to him and start swinging my fists at him like someone out of an angry mob. I had to think of this as taking something from the head peacekeeper or the mayor, if they were kids my own age and couldn't order peacekeepers to give out sadistic punishments. In saying that, I was going to use what I knew I was best at, stealth, and speed. I just had to get my timing perfect, have a little bit of luck, and have a plan.

Quickly observing my surroundings, I looked at the environment with a keen eye. I looked at everything that could be used to my advantage and looked out for things that could hinder me. Trees, overly large roots, the shadows, paths, bushes, everything. Just like back home, I could see the things that I could use, how I could use them. It felt natural, like it was just another day of planning in District Twelve. And just like that, I had formulated a strategy in my head. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

I watched the boy jog through the forest, past my hiding spot, totally oblivious to my presents. The first part of my plan was coming in motion, and it was up to me to follow up on the later parts of it.

Pushing a quick breath out, I quietly stood up, careful to not make a sound.

I managed to get up without making noise, and felt everything coming together. It was a good feeling, but I wasn't celebrating yet, the easy part was over, and the hard part was just beginning.

My body started to get jittery, just like they did back home before I did my job. I relaxed my body and told myself that I could do it. I didn't think of what could go wrong, I just focused on what was in front of me. And what was in front of me was survival. Something that needed to be done.

I took a quick, silent breath, and silently went forwards, keeping my feet as light as possible and avoiding any fragile foliage that could give away my location. And to help with that, I wasn't directly behind him, I was behind him, but also to the left of him a fair distance, so if he looked behind him, he wouldn't see me right away. I couldn't let him see me, if he did, the plan was a bust. I didn't want that.

Following him was tense, nerve racking, and dangerous, but I let my fear of getting caught behind me and continued forwards. Aerin had stopped jogging and was now doing a steady walk, making me have to be even more careful. When he had been jogging, I could make a little noise because he was making some himself, but now, even less noise was required.

He hadn't seen me yet, and unless I made a noise, he wasn't going to turn around. I kept on telling myself that as well as telling myself that I wasn't going to make any noise. I had done this before, being silent, and I was going to be successful this time as well.

Closer and closer I got, and still, the big guy was unaware of what was behind him. I was about twenty feet away from him when I grabbed a fallen tree branch that had found its way onto the ground. It was laying up on an angle, so it was possible to see from a distance. It was sturdy as well. Not so long and thick that it would be hard to swing, but long and thick enough that I could think of it as a club. It was a good size for me. Perfect.

Even though I had the weapon in my hand, I still couldn't let myself get sloppy. Even with this stick I could still get defeated. I could still get killed, so I didn't attack right away. Instead, I continued to use my stealth to get oh so closer to Aerin.

Those backpacks of his, I knew which of the three I was going to grab. The medium sized bright yellow one. Big enough to probably contain some good supplies, but not too large that it could slow me down when I have to escape. Yes. It was never a good idea to become too greedy. Just ask Aerin in a bit.

As I got closer to Aerin, I slowly got directly behind him.

When I got within ten feet of Aerin, I began to have second thoughts about this plan. I was becoming worried that I might have made the wrong choice. I had never attacked anyone, and the only fight that I had got in was with that woman that had attacked Tara, my youngest sister. And even then that wasn't much of a fight. This was the Hunger Games though, a place where the fights aren't quick and always end up on a good note for you. If I start a fight with Aerin, will the fight end more like how it did with Tara, or as one of the bloody corpses that I'm used to seeing both at home and on screen?

I thought about turning around and leaving Aerin alone. Forgetting about the backpack and the supplies and just walk away. I still had time for that. Aerin still hasn't seen me and- CRUNCH!

The sound of a dry leaf being crushed below my foot pulled me out of my thoughts, and made my heart seem to literally stop as terror engulfed my body. I felt the world stop as everything just seemed to freeze. I could hear nothing, see nothing, and hear nothing except my heart beating roughly, and the stiff Aerin in front of me.

Don't move, I told myself, hoping that things weren't as what they seemed. Maybe he won't turn around, maybe he'll think that he made that sound. I tried to calm myself down, but it wasn't working. I was too close to him to be calm. The situation was too tense to be calm.

Run or fight? I asked myself. Run or fight? Run or fight? Run or fight?

I saw the large boy start to turn around, so I swung the branch back, took the one step forward to get within range of him, and smashed the branch onto his head as hard as I could with both my hands on the improvised weapon.

Aerin didn't even have enough time to react as the piece of wood hit the side of his head, sending him into a small twirl. He gave a yelp in surprise and pain.

I didn't give him time to recover as I followed up with another strike to the same side of his head, forcing him onto one knee. I was going to hit him again, and I did. I hit him across the back of his head, sending him to the ground face first.

Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, I quickly ran forwards and grabbed the bright yellow backpack that was in his hand and pulled it. Only, it didn't leave his hand, Aerin held onto it with an iron grip. He wasn't going to let that backpack go.

I swung the stick at Aerin once again, but only with one hand, and while it made contact with his left arm, it was the right arm that yanked the backpack and made me stumble as I tried to hold onto the backpack. I did an awkward dance that was a mixture of walking and falling as he pulled me to the ground and the earth spun way too fast.

Losing my balance, I hit the ground on my side before I saw Aerin turn towards me and look at me with anger in his eyes. Those eyes, they scared me. They reminded me of peacekeeper eyes. Cold, hard, cruel.

It also didn't help that the skin above his right cheek that stretched from his ear to his nose had been split open, allowing blood to spill down his cheek. It made him look ever more frightening.

Scrambling to my feet, I wanted to get some distance between myself and this angry tribute. He was too strong and not someone that I wanted to fight.

My feet slipped on the dirt and foliage as my hands also scrapped the ground, but I managed to get up and start running, only to feel a sharp pain in the back of my head. I felt myself getting pulled back before I saw the side of a tree getting rapidly bigger. I was close enough to see the texture of the rough bark before I felt agony ripple through my face as everything got washed over with black and red. I couldn't help but scream.

I then felt my head being pulled back roughly again, and knowing what was ahead, I dropped my weapon and placed my arms out in defence. It didn't help, the only thing it did was make my arms hurt along with my face when it collided with bone. Again, I screamed.

Again, my head was pulled back, and on reflex for my arms and my confused brain, I pulled my arms away, mostly. When my face slammed into the tree a third time, my palms did was well. The pain to the palms was much less, more like a discomfort, but my face was agonizingly painful.

I tried to attack Aerin, kicking at him with my legs, but I either missed him or whatever I did hit seemed ineffective. That's when I felt a burning sensation cascade through my face. I felt my skin getting dragged on the rough bark of the tree. I was getting scratched deeply on the right side of my face, from my forehead down to my chin. Up and down, up and down. It was so painful I felt as if that part of my face was on fire.

The scrapping continued, and I felt as if he would rip my face to the bone when he just suddenly stopped. I heard him give out a sound that was something between a shout and a moan as I felt him let go of my hair.

Falling to my knees, I touched my face, and felt the rough, raw, and torn up part of my body that was warm and meaty and full of holes. It hurt to touch, even more than it felt when the air brushed against it. I felt the warm liquid run into my right eye and sting it painfully.

I wiped my arm across it, only to send a wave of pain across it. I blinked rapidly, but nothing I did could take out the sting of blood in my eye.

Now would of been a good time to run, but I couldn't help but look back and see how my target was doing. He was on the ground cupping his groin with a look of utter shock on his face. I felt a victory over him, and decided that now would be a good time to grab my prize.

I reached over and grabbed the yellow backpack again, this time with both hands, and yanked it away from him. Only, he still didn't want to give it up.

Desperate for the supplies, I continued to fight the bigger boy for the pack in a tug of war match. There were times that I thought I was going to get it, but in the end, I didn't. It was like playing tug of war with Matt, I couldn't win.

But then a thought came to me. This wasn't Matt, and like the people I was stealing from, I didn't have to play fair. So why was I playing fair?

With that in mind, I kicked Aerin between the legs again. Aerin yelled in pain again, but he still wouldn't let go of the backpack. Stubborn little...

I kicked him a third time, then a fourth time, and finally, he let go with a sound that sounded like he was chocking. Finally.

Not wanting to stick around any longer, I spun around and ran as quickly as I could, only to feel my left leg feel as if it had turned to stone. Because of that, I lost my balance and felt gravity dictate my direction. Down. And painfully at that.

I found myself on the ground again, and I felt lucky that I hadn't landed on the right side of my face.

I wondered what in the world had happened to my leg, and when I looked back, I saw that Aerin had grabbed my leg. That guy still hadn't given up!

Sick of getting hurt by him and not getting away, I kicked at him with my right leg, but he continued to dodge my attacks. Well, you can't dodge what you can't see!

Letting my right hand let go of the backpack, I extended it to my side, dug my nails into the earth, and scrapped everything that my palm could hold. Grass, leaves, twigs, bits of bark, pebbles, and dirt. Lots and lots of dirt.

I pulled my fist full of earth back before giving out a yell, and threw it at Aerin. The majority of it missed, but what did hit him was like some sort of acid by the way he acted. The dirt and pebbles turned into something mist like, and it hit him in the face, and the eyes. Aerin went ballistic.

The boy from District Eleven shouted and cursed and rubbed his eyes with both hands, freeing me from my prison. Not wanting to get held up again, I got to my feet once again, and sprinted away from Aerin, putting my speed and agility to use. I clutched the backpack tightly to my chest as I ran.

"Hey!" I heard Aerin shout angrily. "Get back here you bitch!"

**A/N: Hopefully this blood bath is an improvement.**

**I couldn't find a better quote for this chapter, so I just did what I did.**

**Anyway, now I'm going to send out messages to people in about an hour or so (so I hope.)**


	19. Bloodbath Part 2

**"What's one less person on the face of the earth, anyway?" -Ted Bundy**

**District One Lynsa Fylar's POV**

First, that orientation appeared out of no where.

One minute I had been talking to Aphrodite, the next I had gone to bed, that much I remembered. But when I woke up, I felt as if I had a headache. It was mild and I felt as if I hadn't really fallen asleep, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. The question of why was what bugged me.

Where had it come from? Why did I feel as if I never really slept?

That headache, I forgot all about it when that guy showed up with that gun. It was sudden and quite confusing for me since my brain didn't get the time to process everything before it became clear. And just like that, nothing else seemed to matter except what was going on in front of me. Only that man seemed to matter.

Between the sudden appearance of that mad man, the gun shots, the shouting, and the bloodbath, of which a boy had half his body blown up and screamed agony until he died, the whole thing was simply overwhelming. My head was spinning, and that made it hard to concentrate. Hard to keep a grip on myself. Too many things were happening at once. I felt as if I was going to puke. I just wanted things to slow down so that I could process what was going on so that I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed.

I struggled to remember just what had happened during that timeline.

Angry man. Gun. Bullets being shout. Shouting. Something about rules. Bloodbath. Boy's legs exploding. Me running.

Where had I ran? Nowhere. Or, just about nowhere. I ran towards the cornucopia with fog running through my mind, because I didn't know what else to do. Was I scared? Maybe a little, but I was more shocked than anything else. I heard the gong, and knew that I had to run, but that was about it. Run Lynsa, just run. That's what my mind told me before I did just that.

And then, I became even more scared because nothing seemed to make sense. The running, the gathering, all the bodies that came and went past me, and I think someone yelled at me but I didn't understand what they said. Everything was a blur and everything was distorted. I didn't know what to make of it. This entire situation was just too confusing.

Now that the fog was clearing from my mind, I started to see more clearly and was able to think. Finally starting to feel in control of my mind and body, I observed my surroundings to try and gain an understanding of what was happening.

I could see that I was standing in the middle of the cornucopia, looking at the supplies in front of me. Large black, rectangular crates that were just about touching the cornucopia itself. They looked heavy, and I wasn't surprised that anybody had tried to carry them away from here. It would have been suicide to even think about it. Not that some of the tributes could have seen them anyway. Only those facing the east could have seen them, and even then they might have been blinded by the sun. So really, no surprise that nothing here was taken.

I turned around to see what was around me, and while most of it was the normal bloodbath field, I finally saw what I was in. I saw that there was a forest in front of me. Nothing but a simple forest.

But among the scenery I saw the District Twelve boy, Colin, laying on his side in a big pool of blood. Not only that, but the entire frontal section of his body was covered in red. And as I looked closer, I could see that he was the boy that the landmines first incapacitated, and then killed due to either shock, blood loss, or both. I couldn't help but think that it was a horrible death. And an unnecessary one at that.

Why had that happened to him? Did the landmines just explode? Did he run off the platform? If so, why would he do that? Didn't he know about the mines? Or was something else going through his mind as the countdown went down.

I don't know what he was thinking, or what the circumstances were, but all I knew was that his death wasn't quick, nor was it painless.

Now wondering what fate others had suffered, I walked around the golden horn to see the carnage. And surprisingly, there wasn't much, but what I did saw was almost as brutal as Colin's.

The District Nine girl, Talliana, her head was busted open and her brains were splattered on the ground like a stomped on meat pastry. Her lower jaw and what was left of her head could have been used as some sort of diabolical bowl. The back of her shirt was torn, and from the injury that she had sustained, I could see torn flesh, some areas were so deep that I could see bits of her spine.

It surprised me that brains looked more brown than the textbook pink that we all thought they looked like. And spines, they were a light brown colour as well. It was all the more disturbing now that I had that knowledge. All that time I thought that it looked different because of the cameras, but now I saw that they were just as they were broadcasted.

There was another dead body near the ruined city area of the arena. That District Six guy, whatever his name was. I couldn't remember who he was, but I'm sure that I'll remember what he looked like now that he was dead.

He was even paler than he originally was, and he was laying face down in a large puddle of blood. A small, rectangular hole was on his back and a piece of his head and right hand was missing as well.

And those were all the corpses that were in the bloodbath field. Three bodies, nothing more, giving our kill count a total of two tributes. Probably the lowest that we've had in over a centaury. I can't remember a time when we've had a bloodbath count of at least seven. This wasn't good for us, or the viewers. They expected blood, and they weren't going to be satisfied with such a small number of deaths at the very beginning.

"Two." I said to myself as I looked at the carnage one last time as I walked back to the place that I had first became fully aware in the arena.

"Two what?" I heard a voice next to me ask.

A little bit surprised to hear a voice close to me, I looked towards the source, and saw my District Four ally, Eva, looking at me. I calmed down a little when I realized that it was just her.

"Two deaths." I told her, thinking about the District Nine girl and the District Six boy. "We only got two bloodbath kills."

"Three actually," I heard someone say below me. I looked down, and saw our little twelve year old ally, Howl, below me, smirking like she always did. "I killed the District Five girl, Valerie, before she got dragged into the forest by that white haired freak." She told us proudly.

Okay then, three kills by us, plus one by landmines. It was still a small amount though, nothing too special.

"So that's it, huh?" I heard someone shout angrily. Turning towards the sound, along with Eva and Howl, we saw Lucifer walking towards us with his eyes burning hatred and his face injured and bloody. "Three kills? Three fucking kills? That's fucking pathetic, all of you!"

This was the first time that I've seen Lucifer angry. He wasn't angry when he got in the fight with Rayne, he wasn't angry when Aerin had rejected the career invitation, not even when Howl made some of her nastier comments. But now, seeing him like this, it made him look like a different person than the funny guy that he tried to be. The joking was over, and now he was serious. More serious than ever, and I didn't know what to expect.

"What happened to your face?" Howl asked, still smirking. "Did you get beat up?"

"Shut up girl!" Lucifer shouted before turning to me, staring at me with cold eyes. "Lynsa! Where were you? We could of used your help during the bloodbath! What the hell were you doing? Standing around with your thumb up your ass or something?"

"I-" I started, trying to think my way out of this. I couldn't tell them that I was scared, or confused, they'd just look at me like I was weak, and I couldn't have that happen. They'd look at me like I was weaker than Eva, or Shoney. No offence to them, but they didn't really have high expectations of them, even after they got their eights in training. I couldn't let them look at me like that. "I couldn't find a bow and arrows." I explained, which was half true. In my confusion, I couldn't find anything.

"Pathetic." The District Two tributes said in synchronization before I heard something being roughly knocked down. I looked ahead and saw that Griffin had kicked over a rack of weapons, of which I saw a bow and a quiver of arrows among them. Griffin looked at me as if to say 'there's your bow and arrows'. That hurt me, that really did.

Before I could say anything else, I saw that Lucifer had turned his attention to our red headed ally.

"And you, reaped career girl, what's your excuse?" Eva looked at him, fearless, like she didn't seem to care what he thought of her. Either that or she had gotten used to the displeasure that he and Howl and Griffin had always shown her. I'd like to think both.

"There were hardly any tributes running towards the cornucopia." She told him confidently. Fearlessly. I envied her at the moment, thinking of how bad I had responded. "And those that did had gotten away, or got killed, before I got near them." I saw Lucifer faintly smile before he replied.

"Fine. Fair enough. If you're telling the truth."

"Which I am." She retorted. But it was a waste of breath as Lucifer had turned his attention to someone else, Arrowe, who I saw had a knife in the side of the stomach.

I was shocked to see that he had gotten stabbed already. Most of the time, us careers and our allies get away with either minor wounds or not injured at all. Arrowe had a weapon deep in his side, and he was clutching it tightly to try and slow down the blood flow.

"Man," Arrowe groaned out of both annoyance and pain. "Don't even start with me, I've got a knife in my gut!" He winced in pain right after his speech.

"I was just going to ask how you got stabbed." Lucifer told him, asking the question for the rest of us. I really was wondering how Arrowe got stabbed. I was worried about him to, so I went looking for a first aid kit among the supplies.

"My district partner, Talliana," Arrowe answered though gritted teeth. "She collided with me and stabbed me before I even had a chance to react."

"You could have stabbed her." Lucifer pointed out to him.

"I wasn't thinking about that," Arrowe justified. "I was stabbed man, stabbed." I don't think many tributes would be thinking after getting stabbed. It was probably the first time Arrowe had been in a situation like that, so I wish that Lucifer would take it easy on him.

"At least you got right to the point of things." Howl called out. It was lame, but it got a chuckle out of her, Lucifer, and Arrowe, who stopped in the middle of his chuckle. I was sure that talking, and laughing, wasn't helping him.

"You there!" I suddenly heard Lucifer shout angrily. I turned towards Lucifer to see who he was shouting at now, only to see that District Three male, Tharizdun, staring out into the forest like there was something fascinating in there. "I thought you were supposed to be a feared killer! Why didn't you kill anyone?"

The biggest member of our pack, slowly, creepily, turned towards us. His sharp, pointed teeth were showing because of his sadistic smile. It gave me the shivers before he even started talking.

"I let them go." He answered simply.

"You what?" Lucifer yelled in as much surprise as us careers probably had inside us, just thinking about what he had just said. "You let them go? Why? Why would you do such a stupid thing?"

Yeah. Why would he just let tributes run free? What was the point? I never imagined that this guy would do something like that.

Tharizdun continued to smile as he answered.

"We're going to have some fun looking for them. I mean, the fun would have been cut in half if I didn't hunt for them. Hunt for them...hunt for them...hunt for them." So that's what it was, he didn't kill them because he couldn't, he let them go for the sport of finding them. He was going to hunt them down and kill them like a kid looked for buried treasure. I looked back to Lucifer, and again, he didn't look pleased with the response he got, but he pressed his teeth together and let out a low growl before turning back to the crates that held the majority of our supplies.

"Whatever then! We'll hunt them down later! And where's Shoney?"

Surprised, I looked around to see where Shoney was, only to find out that he was missing. He was nowhere in sight.

"Have you seen him anywhere, Eva?" I asked my ally, hoping that she had seen him somewhere.

"No." She said with the same shocked reply that I had had. "He was with us when we arrived here, right?"

"He was." I confirmed. Though I hadn't seen him, or remembered seeing him, I'm sure that he was with us, he had to be. We were all here, and everyone gets sent into the arena. Unless he's dead and got dragged into the city, or the forest.

No, that couldn't happen, he was a career, he was good at fighting, and it's not like he abandoned us either. He wouldn't do that, he knew what would happen if he even thought of that. It wouldn't turn out good. He wasn't that stupid. But then again, Shoney sometimes didn't seem to be in his right mind, and there was just something that we as the careers agreed as a whole. Shoney was unpredictable, so he could just do... I don't know, something. And there was just a feeling that I had around him. It was strange, but I had a feeling that he might be untrustworthy.

No, don't think like that Lynsa. Shoney's an ally, and he wouldn't go against our interests. He was just strange, that's all. Sure he wanted to shoot a dart at the gamemakers, but it's not like he would actually do something so stupid that it would be the death of him, right?

"He's probably out finishing off some tribute out there somewhere." I heard Howl say as she helped Lucifer look through the variety of crates in front of us. Not far off from them, I saw Griffin pick up a large sword before he twirled it around expertly, testing out its weight and balance. I couldn't help but notice that there were bits of red spatter and brown chunks of brain matter on his pants and the very bottom of his shirt.

It made me think of the District Nine girl. So he was the one that killed her. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that someone's blood and brains were on him, didn't bother cleaning himself up. I don't know why it bugged me, but it did. That girl was nothing, but at the same time, I couldn't really help but think of her as more. "Which is more than I can say for the both of you."

I turned my head to Howl and said to her.

"Just because we haven't kill anyone yet doesn't mean tha-"

Suddenly, a sharp howler sounded out, causing everyone, myself included, to turn towards the source.

"Well well," Lucifer said playfully, if playfully could be mixed with sadistic. "Look at what we have here boys and girls!" Lucifer then grabbed onto something that was behind a stack of crates, and pulled out a person.

That person stumbled as Lucifer brought him into view. I noticed that he was kind of fat, which made it a little surprising that he had made it all the way to the cornucopia, and hide behind those crates without anyone noticing.

I saw that his eyes were starting to tear up, and that was probably because of the knife in his right bicep. The knife went in so deep that I could see that the hilt was touching his skin, and the other side of the knife was sticking out of his arm. Blood coursed down his arm as he continued to yell. "Dav Anders, if I'm not mistaken." Lucifer continued calmly, before he pulled the knife out of Dav's arm, causing him to scream even more.

Without giving the District Eight boy time to recover, my ally kicked him cruelly between his legs before a high pitched sound occurred and Dav fell to his knees. Then just as quickly, Lucifer kicked him across the face with his tanned boot.

It was the first time I noticed that we were wearing arena uniforms. Though that still couldn't distract me from what was happening in front of me.

A spray of blood escaped from Dav's mouth before he fell to the ground, face first. "That's right," Lucifer cried out as he spread his arms out and smiled. "Bow down to me." I don't know wither I liked his joking attitude of killing tributes to his serious attitude about killing tributes. They were both messed up in their own ways.

"At least he knows his place." Howl laughed as she walked up to the downed tribute. "Why don't you give us something, Eight? An offering, perhaps?" Then with her left hand, she grabbed Dav's right ear, pulled it up and towards her, then pulled out a throwing knife from her vest and started to slice Dav's ear off.

Dav howled and stuck his arms out to try and pull away Howl's hands, only for Lucifer to stab his right hand, pinning it to the earth. As for Griffin, he proceeded to grab and twist Dav's injured left arm into an awkward position. Dav would have fallen back onto his face if it weren't for Griffin holding his body up. "Stop moving his body," Howl told Griffin as she continued to saw her knife through his ear. "It makes it harder to cut."

When her knife got deep enough into his flesh, blood started to pour out of his ear. Dav tried to escape Griffin's grip, but Griffin was too strong. He didn't wave his free right arm too much either, as moving it around seemed to make the hole that he had gotten due to Lucifer's knife widen.

Dav continued to scream, and when Howl managed to slice his entire ear off, she held it up in the air, almost proudly, before she shouted into Dav's now missing ear. "Can you ear me now?" She laughed. Lucifer laughed at that as well, which made me feel a little sick. How could she talk to someone like that in that state?

"What should we do with him now?" Lucifer asked, pulling his knife out of Dav's hand. The boy screamed, but all I could hear was Howl saying.

"Break his arm." And just like that, I heard a loud, wet pop that almost sounded like a crunch. Dav screamed louder than ever as Griffin savagely broke his arm, and in the process, put Dav on the ground face first again.

Only taking a second to look at the damage before looking away, I saw two bloody, light brown, uneven spikes come out of both sides of Dav's broken arm. His arm that was now pointed in the opposite direction then nature intended.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing just now. I had seen Griffin hurt other kids before, but I had never seen him do something like this, and so calmly as well. It was one thing for him to be angry and not be in control, but it was another thing for him to willingly break someone's arm so badly that their bones pierce their skin. To see this had shown me just how willing Griffin was to hurting people, and it scared me.

"Get over here girls!" I heard Lucifer shout, but I didn't move. I didn't want to go up to that boy and do whatever Lucifer was going to ask us to do. I stayed in place, and Eva did as well. "Right now!" Lucifer shouted, and for some reason, that made me feel the need to go to him. Eva followed behind me. "Arrowe! You too!"

The three of us arrived in the group at all the same time. We all looked at Lucifer, wondering what he wanted all of us for. "Join us." He simply said. I knew it. I knew that was what he wanted us to do, to join us in this sick game of his and Howl's and Griffin's.

I didn't want to do it, and I didn't know about Eva, but Arrowe walked up to Dav as Griffin pulled Dav up by his hair. Arrowe looked at Dav's crying face for merely a second before he pulled back his right fist and started to savagely pound on his face.

"Yeah!" Howl cheered as fists collided with face. "Yeah! That's how you do it!"

Arrowe started out just hitting Dav's face, but then Dav's nose broke with a sickening crunch, then his face started to become bloody, then blood started to run out his mouth. It was horrifying, not only because of the injuries, but because I didn't think that Arrowe was that type of person. He seemed to be more like me and Eva and Shoney than the other careers.

"Eva-" I started, wondering what Eva thought of all this. But when I looked to my side, I saw that Eva had pulled out a knife and was walking towards Dav. She nudged Arrowe out of the way, and Arrowe, like he had just been snapped out of a trance, looked back and forth between Eva and Dav before slowly moving to the side.

Then just like that, Eva started to repeatedly stab Dav in the stomach. In and out, in and out, Eva violently stabbed Dav in the stomach until there was a crude hole in his gut big enough that something was slipping out of his stomach. It looked like a large, grotesque, red and purple bean sprout. And something was leaking out of that as well, it was juicy and looked rustic with hints of yellow.

It was disgusting to say the least.

"Lynsa!" I heard Lucifer call to me, waving his hand in a come over here gesture. "Get over here and do your part!"

Eva stopped stabbing Dav and made room for me. I still didn't move. I couldn't do it, and when Eva started to attack him, it was just so... Sudden. I didn't think that she was like that either. Didn't think that she was the type of person that would participate in torture. She had been such a kind person, not taking parts in fights or anything. But this, this was different.

Now two of my allies, two who I thought we such nice people, weren't as they seemed. I wanted to ask what was wrong with them. Shout actually. Scream right in their faces and demand an answer. But I didn't, because I was afraid of the answer they might give.

Walking up to the guy that was more of a mess than anything else, I couldn't help but examine him. His face had been brutalized, his right arm was broken with pieces of bloody bone sticking out, his left hand had a gaping hole in it, and his right ear was missing.

Blood was coming out of those holes and his mouth. When I got up to him and looked down at him, he looked up at me like a scared little kid. Tears ran down his eyes, begging me to save him. Only, I couldn't save him, but I couldn't hurt him either. It was one thing doing it to training dummies, another to-

"Come on, Lynsa," Howl moaned sarcasticlly. "Do we actually have to show you how to do this?"

"I don't wan-"

"To do this?" Lucifer asked. "Fine, don't do it then."

"Really?" I asked, hopeful that I really wouldn't have to do it.

"Yeah, sure," Lucifer continued. "Don't prove yourself to us, you can just walk away from all this, from this alliance, and everything that it offers you. I mean, if you want to act like a useless tribute, you can be one."

"But..." I said, thinking about how he was just going to cast me out. Just like that. I was a District One career. I got a ten in training. They said that I had skills. And yet, they were just going to let me go, just like that, like I was nothing to them, all because I didn't want to torture someone? "But Shoney isn't here to prove himself," I defended. "Are you just going to cast him away as well?"

"Right now, I trust Shoney more than I trust you. Hell, if Eva could prove herself, I know that Shoney would as well. Arrowe, I just needed to see if he was on our side or not. As for you," He than spat at me. "I'm disappointed in you."

"And aren't you a sister of a victor?" Howl added. "Evan Fylar. How many people did he injure? How many did he kill? Five tributes? I remember what he did to one guy. Didn't he beat him so badly with brass pipes that his head looked like a ruined orange after?"

I didn't want to admit it, but she was right about Evan. Though he was nice to me and everything, I knew that inside, he was more like mom and dad than anything else. I didn't like that about him, it made me think that victory meant more to him than family. Some of the things he did, there was a reason why I went to my best friend, Apollo, than Evan. Even though Evan was my brother.

Thinking to the things Evan did, all I could think of was one thing.

"I am not Evan."

"Sure an't." Lucifer sighed. "But I also know that you aren't stupid, or that you want to leave the pack. So here's the deal." He then shoved a knife to my chest, which I then grabbed. "Hurt this guy, badly, or walk. And besides, isn't this what you signed up for?"

And with that being said, I had to look at our prisoner, Dav Anders, yet again. The same expression as he had last time I looked at him. Sad with tears running down his bloody face. He was so helpless, like a little kid in an adult world. He remained me of me back when I was little. The look on his face before I became strong. But this was different from the suffering at home, this was death looking at him right in the face, and he couldn't escape it. He knew what was coming, and didn't like it. And neither did I.

But what did I want more? The career pack acceptance? Or the acceptance of this kid?

I didn't want to be alone, and I knew what would happen to Dav, regardless of my choice. One choice was better than the other, despite me not liking either choice. So I did what I had to do, I stabbed Dav right in the mouth. The knife slide right through his right cheek before he yelled in agony.

I felt the knife rip through his skin before it hit something hard. I then tried to pull the knife out, but whatever my blade had dug into, it was now stuck in it. Pushing and pulling, all it did was cause Dav more pain as he tried to shake his head away from my knife. It was pointless, otherwise this knife would have been out by now.

I'm sorry. I wanted to tell him that, but I couldn't say that to him, not with everyone watching. But I was sorry. I really was.

Struggling to get the knife out, I wiggled it around with all my might, loosening it and tried to pull it out many times, but every time I tried to do just that, I found that it was still stuck in there. I just wanted the knife out of there. I just wanted to stab him to get this over with, but now I was causing him more pain than intended.

As I moved the knife around in his mouth, I heard a crack ring out, like an apple being cracked in half. Then a second, wetter crack occurred as the knife loosened in his mouth. Tugging at the knife once again, I wiggled it up and down, trying my best to ignore the wails, I continued to hear those sickening cracks before, at last, I was able to twist the knife out and pull it out of his mouth.

As soon as my knife was freed from his mouth, Dav screamed so loud it almost hurt to hear. While he was screaming, his waterworks continued to flow as blood overflowed from his mouth. Among the river of blood came something bobbing along. Something ivory coloured and smooth. With horror, I realized just what that popping sound inside his mouth was. Teeth.

Three cubic pieces fell out of his mouth along with a mouth full of crimson.

I couldn't believe what I had just done. I just couldn't.

"Good job." Howl told me, patting me on the back. It didn't make me feel any better. "Now what are we going to do with that."

Then before anyone could even think of another thought, Lucifer slashed Dav's throat with his knife before reaching into the hole with his free hand, and tearing the flesh open even more, increasing the blood flow.

I could see the blood spray out of his throat, and it only got worse as the gap became wider and wider. And though I couldn't see just how big the wound it, I knew that it was big due to how quickly our District Two ally was getting covered with blood. The sound of flesh being torn apart sounded like a citrus fruit being cut with a serrated knife. Horrific.

When Lucifer finally turned around, he was a scary person to look at. The entire front of his body was covered with red. And Dav, the hole in his throat was so large that it could have fitted a mace inside it.

"What are we going to do about what?" Lucifer asked, not in the least fazed that he had just killed someone and he was covered in their blood. Griffin then let go of Dav's body and let him fall to the ground as he weakly flopped around and uselessly covered his throat with his only functioning hand. Blood poured out of the hole in his hand. Dav would be dead in less than a minute. "Come on, get yourselves ready, we need to make up for this pathetic death count."

As I watched Dav dying, I couldn't help but think of my parents and Evan. I might not of loved my parents but I did love my brother, but I didn't want to think about him here and now. Not in a situation like this either.

God. I can't belive that I actually did this.

**District Eleven's Angel Hale's POV**

Sami and I had run towards the forest, the place that was in front of us. It had been part of the plan we had before. Because Aerin was the one gathering the supplies, because he didn't want us to risk going into the bloodbath field, he was the one that going to take that risk. Sami and I didn't really like that idea too much.

I told Aerin that I was a quick runner, and Sami suggested that she grab something that was close to her launch pad, but Aerin kept on telling us that it was too dangerous for us to linger around that place for too long. He said that someone might end up dead. And before I could voice my concern, or really, bash Aerin for being a hypocrite, Sami yelled at him for being the one that was putting himself in danger.

Honestly, I, and even Aerin jumped back from hearing Sami's voice louder than her normal voice, which was slightly quieter than a normal person talking. Sami then went on to say how Aerin was going into the bloodbath field, alone, and gathering supplies for three people, and asked Aerin how that wasn't dangerous. How he wasn't taking a chance with death.

It was the very same thing I was thinking, and didn't know wither or not to be happy that Sami was the one that voiced it rather than me. But it was shocking that Sami would talk like that. For some reason, I didn't think that she was capable of shouting, so it only made it the more surprising.

Aerin, not taking long to recover from his surprise, then said to us that if anyone was going to get hurt it was going to be him. Before anyone could protest, he said that it was final and that nothing we were going to say was going to change in his mind.

It was a tough feeling to work out. On one hand, I was grateful that Aerin was worried about us and wanted to do as he said. But on the other hand, I wanted to go out and help him so that he wouldn't have to take all the burden.

I didn't know what to do, so I waited on it until we got to the arena. And when we got there, I looked over to Aerin, who looked back at us, and stuck his head towards the ruined city. That's when I knew that we were going to stick with the plan we had made up earlier. I then made my choice, Aerin didn't want us to go for supplies, so I wasn't going to. I didn't want to make Aerin angry.

When the gong went off, I turned around and ran straight for the ruined city. I was sure that Sami was following me and sticking with the plan.

The plan was to go where Aerin was, and that meant getting to the forest. Aerin was the one that was going for the supplies, so that meant that he couldn't cross the bloodbath field to get to us, that was way too dangerous. More than was needed. So Sami and I were going to circle around and find our ally on the other side. It was safer for him and us, even if it was the long way around for us.

I got to the edge of the ruined city and turned back to see if Sami was close to me, and to my surprise, she wasn't. Scared that Sami had been killed already, my eyes darted around, frantically looking for her, only to see her running towards me, not too far away from where her launch pad was.

While I was relived that she was still alive and well, I wondered what she was doing. Had she done something stupid or was she just feeling slow today? But then I noticed something in her hands.

As she got closer, I saw that it was a roll of roller bandages and some medical pads. I wanted to shout at her, and while I didn't actually shout at her, my tone was angry with her as I grilled her.

"What was the plan?" I growled at her. "We were just supposed to run away, not try to gather supplies." Aerin wanted us to not put our lives at risk for the items around the cornucopia, so why did she go and disobey his order? If she couldn't follow a simple direction, I felt as if she was going to get us in trouble because of that.

"I ju-" She started, but then looked away, ashamed of herself. She couldn't seem to talk after that. I felt sorry that I acted mean to her, but still, she only had to follow one order. One. And she couldn't even do that.

Putting aside my anger for her at the moment, I said to her.

"Never mind. Let's just get out of here and meet Aerin at the rendezvous point."

Sami nodded before we took off for the ruined city.

When we got deep enough into the city, we then made our way around the cornucopia and headed towards the forest. We were deep enough away that we couldn't be seen by anyone around the cornucopia, but close enough that we wouldn't wonder too deep into the forest without first meeting Aerin. I mean, if we walked too deep into the forest, there would be too much area to cover until we meet up with each other, or we wouldn't be able to see each other. Even worse, we might get lost. Then what? We'd be running around in the forest, just the two of us, without Aerin around to help us.

We could probably do well on our own, but would Aerin be okay on his own? What if we got into a fight? We didn't have any supplies except for the bandages that Sami had foolishly rushed into the bloodbath field for, and those wouldn't last long if we encountered another tribute and had to fight them.

Running. Running was the best option to do if we encountered another tribute at this point. Neither of us were very strong, and we didn't have any weapons with us, so we were practically defenceless. But if we had to fight, I was sure going to fight my hardest. I mean, I didn't want to die and I did want to get back to my sisters and friends.

Hide. That was the advice my sisters gave me during their goodbyes. But as I told them, I couldn't hide forever, but hiding in the beginning would probably be the best choice. There was going to be a lot of tributes, the career pack especially, looking for other tributes, meaning that there would be a lot of fighting going on. If we avoided the conflicts, maybe we'd be uninjured while the rest of the tributes were hurt from their battle wounds. At that point, we'd be in the better condition and maybe we able to-

The rustling of foliage caught my attention. It was off in the distance, and it didn't sound like they were trying to sneak up on us or anything. Everything was breaking, or being moved out of their way, and there was the sound of a slight struggle as well.

At that moment, I knew that it was probably Aerin, who else would just trample through the forest like that. But then again, maybe it wasn't Aerin, and just another tribute that was wandering towards us, ignorant of our presents. Or maybe not.

I didn't know which one it was, but I sure hoped that it was Aerin and not some other tribute.

If it was Aerin, good, we meet up like we planned. If not, we were going to run. And if we couldn't run, then we'd fight. Fight then run, or just fight I did not know. But please, just let it please be Aerin so that nothing can go wrong.

I watched the spot where the person was going to emerge from, and just stared at it, waiting. Waiting to see who'd show their face to us.

The movement became louder, and louder. Getting closer, and closer. Turning my body ever so slightly, I got ready to run, but I continued to look at the spot the sound was coming from. Nervousness got to me as I thought of what would happen if a chase occurred, when a hand appeared out of the bushes.

That hand. It wasn't the colour brown, it was light skinned, it wasn't Aerin. I turned to run as the hand swept the bushes away. "Let's get out of here, Sami!" I shouted to my ally before I heard something that sounded like a mixture between a grunt and a cry in pain.

Whatever had just happened, good, that person was hurt, giving us a better chance of escaping. I looked back to see if Sami was keeping up with me, only to see that Sami was no where near me. What the hell? Where was she? Don't tell me we ran in different directions!

Quickly coming to a halt, I turned back, and saw that Sami hadn't moved. Instead, she was staring at where the other tribute had come from, and she appeared to be holding her hands over her mouth, like she was in deep surprise or something. But why was she acting that way? It's not like she attacked Aerin or something, so there was no need to act that way.

I wanted to yell at Sami and tell her to ignore that she had just seen another tribute get hurt and move, just as I heard that injured tribute groan loudly.

"Right in the freaking teeth, man." I recognized that voice, I realized in surprise. "Guess I should be glad that it was you instead of Aer-"

"What are you doing here?" I asked Shoney loudly, wondering what he was doing in the middle of the forest, coming towards us. What was he going to do? Announce our location to the rest of the careers and have them come over and finish us off early in the game?

He came to us during the training days in the Capitol and talked to us about an alliance. When asked about his career alliance, he said that he didn't get along with most of his alliance and that he was thinking of leaving them, saying that he was only sticking our because of his district partner and didn't want a target on his back.

I supposed that made sense, for not wanting to face the wrath of the careers if he didn't join, but his district partner was something that I was if-y about. His district partner was fine as far as I could see. And why would he want to be in our alliance if he was with the careers? It's not like they'll all just start killing each other at the start of the games. No. That only happens late in the games, either after they separate from each other or they're the only ones left and need to kill each other then and there to leave.

It just didn't seem right that he would come to us. The only thing that made it seem like he was telling the truth was that he looked like he was trying to keep it secret from the other careers. And while Aerin seemed to believe him and welcome him aboard while Sami kept quiet, I didn't trust him. It was all too... I don't know. Too good to be true. A career on our side? There was a catch around here somewhere, even if he didn't admit it back in the Capitol.

Shoney groaned lightly as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. He then placed a couple of his fingers into his mouth, rubbed his teeth, then pulled them out and examined them.

"No blood." He calmly stated as he stared at his fingers. "You know, from how much this hurts, you'd think that there'd be som-"

"If you want some bleeding gums," I told Shoney, irritated that he wasn't really taking this seriously. "I'll give you some later. But for now, answer the damn question. What are you doing here?"

"Don't you trust an ally?" The District Four boy asked, spreading his arms out for dramatic effect. "I'm here because I'm here to give you something to help you all out with." He then unslung a backpack from his shoulders and tossed it over to Sami, who gave a little squeak before she caught it in her arms as it slammed onto her chest.

I looked over to see that the backpack was large and bright green. Definitely something that would contain good supplies. "In a gesture of good faith." Shoney told us before he turned around and started to walk away.

I didn't really know what to think about this, but I wasn't going to just let these supplies go to waste. We could use them. So even though I didn't trust Shoney, those supplies would be useful.

"Wait." I heard Sami say. It wasn't as loud as when she was talking to Aerin or I, but Shoney was still able to hear it, because he turned around and faced her.

"Yeah?" He asked. Sami then seemed to stumble with her words before she managed to spit out.

"C- Come with u- Us."

I was startled to hear those words. I didn't trust this guy, and yet, here was Sami, trying to bring him closer to us than I would of liked. If things went the wrong way, there was nothing to stop him from killing the both of us.

Stepping closer to Sami, I started to talk to her.

"Sami," I said with an edge in my voice. "Do you really think that's the best idea right now?"

"Wha-" Sami said, not getting the words out smoothly as I steadily got closer to her. "What do y-"

"You don't trust me, do you?" Shoney said, reading my mind. "It's all right, I won't be joining you guys yet." Key word, yet. "So I hope you all the best, that you find Aerin, and the three of you prosper and stuff."

And with that, Shoney turned his back to us, gave off a little wave with his right hand, and disappeared into the forest, though the sound of him was still there.

"I don't trust him." I told Sami when the sound of him was far enough that I was sure that he couldn't hear us.

"Why not?" Sami asked. "Aerin seems to trust him. And look," She said, holding up the large backpack in front of her. "He gave us this."

"I'm only giving him the benefit of doubt because of Aerin." I told her, thinking of Aerin and the alliance with Shoney. "But he's a career, and careers don't just ally themselves with us non-careers because they feel like it." In previous years, the only reason careers would ally themselves with non-careers is either because they got kicked out of the career pack, or they were planning on back stabbing them. Shoney was still part of the career pack, so that only left one option.

"I know." Sami said with some glum in her voice.

A moment of silence engulfed the area. The only sounds around us were the sounds of mockingjays, repeating scattered pieces of our conversation.

"Never mind." I told her, hoping that we'll never see Shoney again so that we wouldn't have to think about this too hard. For now, we should just be thankful that he gave us something. All the more supplies for when Aerin arrives. "Come on, let's go find Aerin."


End file.
